


Manifest Salvation

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Series: Manifestation [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Mpreg, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-23 16:16:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11993400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: In a Galaxy Far, Far Away, where the Force changed how procreation works, events get slightly off-track because of it.





	1. Prelude

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this is an A/B/O universe. Sex is mentioned, characters are seen before and after the act. The one NSFW part will be posted separately within the series, though, and I think the rest falls in the Teen rating easily.

_83 BBY_

Yoda belonged to one of the few species in the galaxy that had not undergone the Manifesting, something that probably had contributed to the slow extinction event of his species, but right now left him at a loss on how to handle his padawan.

He knew events with Lorian Nod had left an indelible stain on his padawan's psyche, and now this.

The ancient Master sighed softly, and went to find Tyvokka for counsel. Perhaps the Wookiee, whose species did Manifest, but in ways not quite like humans, would have insight on how to handle a new Alpha who had, unfortunately, been exposed to an Omega that was completely anathema to his mindset.

If only that mission had not had them cross Nod's path. If only Dooku had not reacted to the stress to bring on his Manifestation. If only…

Yoda pinned his ears back in dismay. Something about this entire encounter was impinging his sight of the years to come, but it was cloaked in shadows. 

Always in motion, the future was. Surely Dooku would find peace in his meditations, and find a way to accept himself and what he was now.

* * *

_74 BBY_

Micah _whined_ , and Plo closed his eyes behind the goggles that protected them. Why, when they had been bonded as a couple for three years, did this have to happen? Why, when he was Kel Dor, and thus not physically able to meet the needs, let alone the fact he was from a species that did not Manifest, did the Force think it had to make Micah an Omega? 

"Easy, my heart," Plo urged the man that was absolutely miserable. He could, and did, pet the exposed skin before he reached out to one of their other friends mentally. ~Tahl.~

~Yes?~

~My dear, insufferable partner is… Manifesting. As Qui and Ky helped you through yours, can you-- ~

~Of course,~ she cut him off. ~He is my friend, and… I take it you mean he is counterpart to me?~

Plo snorted mentally, even as he ran his hand up and down Micah's back, soothing him for now. ~Yes. Tahl… you will be able to control your instincts, yes? He and I are firmly bonded, after all.~

~I will not attack you, as you are a part of him, Plo. And… we five are a family all our own, no matter what the Order sometimes would wish of us.~

~Then please hurry, my dear friend, as he is getting most frustrated with my inability to ease his particular needs.~

Tahl's mental laughter and sharply spiking desire left Plo assured there would not be a long wait. It did not bother him that Tahl and Micah were likely to make a Bonding, so long as he was not pushed aside. He also knew this was going to change their group's dynamic further; Tahl and Micah would always have to consider the other's needs and safety before accepting any future missions.

For some reasons, Plo thought the Force was assuring him that was a good thing.

* * *

_37 BBY_

Quinlan slowly woke to find Luminara was the only person with him. He vaguely remembered there having been a lot more than that, out of their age group. Obi-Wan might even have been there, but then in Quinlan's state, he really hadn't been aware of much more than the primal urges of his Manifestation.

"Back with us?" she asked softly. He nodded, then winced, grateful she was not touching him. Then again, she rarely touched anyone outside of her discreet affairs. Rumor had it that she had a Senior Knight firmly ensnared in her wiles, but Quinlan wasn't certain he believed that, given how recently Luminara had passed her Trials.

"What? Everyone left?"

Luminara smiled and nodded. "We felt it best, given the fact you had to touch so much."

There was a quiet pity there, for the man with psychometry having manifested as an Alpha. Though, it would have been just as bad for him if he had been an Omega.

"I will certainly be using suppressants going forward," Quinlan muttered. "Please tell me I imagined chasing Knight Fisto down? And propositioning Master Giiett right in front of his bondmate and his Alpha?"

"I am afraid you did both. Kit Fisto has absconded with his padawan into the safety of his own master's chambers, and, oddly enough, Qui-Gon Jinn protected you from Tahl's and Plo Koon's wrath."

Quinlan had to grin, a little, at that. "He will never let Master Tholme hear the end of it. Or Obi-Wan."

"Probably not." Luminara then fixed him with a solid look. "Come to your age mates next time, Quinlan. Or seek a professional, if your gift will allow you."

He shook his head, braids slinging around his face. "I… something drove me to find them, to protect them?" He could almost taste the edge of something important, something that his rut and his gift had combined to show him, and yet it was slipping away.

"Hmm, well. Suppressants can fail in stress, and you, oh newly-Knighted Shadow, are a stressful man," Luminara pointed out. "Find us. We can handle you, as there is not yet an Omega among our youngling clans."

"I will. Or try to."


	2. Anakin's Manifesting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Events of AotC begin, but when Anakin's biology catches up, there are some deviations from events as planned. Including Obi-Wan remembering what compassion and logic are, in regards to not letting his volatile padawan suffer a cruel loss.

_22 BBY_

"I fear I owe people credits," Obi-Wan mused, even as he tried very hard to cope with his nineteen year old padawan all but sliding into his lap. When he and Anakin began to have problems in the last few years, Obi-Wan had been certain the boy would not only Manifest, but prove to be an Alpha. After all, the other three Alphas he knew well were all aggressively stubborn people, from Tahl who could sweeten it to Quinlan who was, well, Quinlan about it, to Quin's own padawan, recently promoted, who had come out as one of those Alphas who could completely control a situation even while the rut was building.

But no, his own precocious and stubborn padawan, who was far too-damned beautiful for his own good --

Damn. The hormones in the air were beginning to affect his own objectivity, Obi-Wan realized. He was so thankful that he, like most of the population, was neither Alpha nor Omega, but that didn't prevent him from being affected to a degree.

Anakin turned his head, tipping his jaw a little to get a better look at his Master -- it felt better, being close to him, especially with the exhaustion of not really sleeping for the visions he couldn't control or comprehend becoming a constant in the last near-month -- as puzzlement at the words rippled through him. He smelled good, felt safe and familiar and strong, "What, Master?" 

"Well, Anakin, I had decided two years ago that you would add to the difficulty of our lives by being an Alpha." Obi-Wan started stroking gently along the young man's back, the only other tactile stimulation he trusted himself with. "Only, you are exhibiting all signs of first heat, not rut.

"And, unfortunately, it is very harmful to try and suppress or end the first Manifesting," he added. "Which leaves us with a conundrum, as we have been given an assignment. I could ask Master Windu to reassign it?"

It was only that his Master was stroking his back, gentle steadily soothing touch, that kept Anakin from starting to panic. He might've only been a boy when he left Tatooine, but that didn't mean he didn't have ears, and in the underbellies of the stadiums the talk could be... vile. And not a little of that was aimed at how easy it was to get an Omega to -- 

No, no, _no_. He didn't want that! 

He had to run the rest of his Master's words back, and he shook his head then. "Assignment? I heard his voice, but I figured you'd tell me..." 

"We're to work protection… oh Force." Obi-Wan looked at the young man in his arms, oblivious to the fear for now, or rather, refusing to see it, as Anakin would work through it, he was certain. "We're meant to go to the Naboo contingent, and provide further security. Which, given your infatuation ten years ago, makes this even more difficult."

The mild oath had made Anakin stiffen slightly -- nothing that made his Master swear was a good thing -- and then his eyes widened at 'Naboo contingent' and 'security'. What'd happened, while he was up to his ears in the trouble on Ansion? He dropped his eyes, turning his jaw away at the mention of the girl -- woman, now, surely -- he'd known was his future long before they separated. 

He hadn't seen her in ten years... how much had she changed? HoloNet images couldn't be trusted, even the ones out of the Senate he'd captured had had something missing from what he remembered of her, and... something deep in him ached with longing and hope and frustration alike. They were supposed to go to Padmé, and his body picked **now** to do something this stupid?! 

"I -- she needs Jedi protection? What happened?" 

That reaction told Obi-Wan a lot more than he had wanted to find out. Yes, his padawan still had a fixation of some sort on Padmé Amidala. Worse, with him now reminded of her, and his first heat on him, complications were likely to arise.

"An assassination attempt. It killed her decoy, from what the brief message had," Obi-Wan said. "We could ask Luminara and Barriss to handle this; they're in roughly the same shape we are, but Barriss isn't… Manifesting." 

Anakin heard a low noise leave his throat, almost a growl, at the idea of leaving Padmé's safety in anyone else's hands, and he shook his head once, hard. He had to protect her, they had to protect her. But -- with what was apparently happening to him, would he be putting her in danger? He sucked a slow breath, torn between the need to protect her and worry that he would put her in danger. 

'Killed her decoy'... "Sabé?" he asked, sickened by the thought of the other girl's death -- she'd gleamed with devotion to Padmé, and she'd been so kind to him. 

_Who_ had thought they could attack Padmé like this? Why? 

He needed to go to her. 

"Cordé, I believe. Dormé is to be our point of contact, or her new captain, a man named Gregar Typho," Obi-Wan said. "Let me contact Dormé. I'm certain she will remember me, and see what can be arranged." He gave Anakin's hair a gentle pet, before extricating himself. "And eat, Anakin. You will need the strength."

He'd followed the stroke of his Master's hand, enjoying the touch, and then he blinked in surprise. "Master? I -- " He shook his head slightly, trying to reorient himself away from the roil of need to go to her, to protect her and keep her safe, onto what the hell was going on with him. "How bad is this going to get?" 

"Well, you're not an Alpha, so you won't go chasing various Masters around like Quinlan did," Obi-Wan said, going for a lighter air. "In a day or two, though, you are very much going to need sexual stimulation, or your body could very well go into shock, and eventually kill you," he said with more sober tones. "I know some Omegas who get by with just devices, when their suppressants fail, but first ones… they are the worst on a body." 

Anakin made a startled noise at the mention of Master Vos apparently _chasing_ other Masters (though, if he was close to this age, and being near-human he would've been, wouldn't he? It wasn't likely he would've been more than a young Knight, if that...) around because he was in rut -- and then there was the rest of it, and he felt his cheeks flush hot and his eyes dropped away again. 

He was glad his Master was as steady-voiced as he was about it, none of that half-amused Coruscanti condescension he so often used, but -- sex was something he pretty much ignored other than being baffled at the lengths it could drive people to. He wasn't entirely immune to the idea, or repulsed by it, he just knew who he wanted, knew it was impossible, and so didn't really think about it. 

But now she was so close, was in need of their help and protection... and he was in the middle of _this_? "A day or two. Then we can go check the situation and see what we can find before it gets that bad, right?" 

"Yes." Obi-Wan nodded at his padawan's resolve. He wondered who he could get to handle this. Was Aayla Secura in residence? Would she be willing, and if so, would she refrain from marking Anakin, so the boy -- man, dammit -- had a chance to find his own Alpha in his own time? Or should he inquire among the rest of his friends, to try and set up a relief session, same as they did for Quinlan when his suppressants lapsed?

"Eat. Then change. Extra small clothes for now; I'll have Master Giiett come talk to you about other issues, once we get back."

"Yes Master," Anakin nodded and moved enough to grab some of the food his Master had set out. He'd been turning in their report while his Master listened to the messages, and food hadn't seemed as important as just being close to his Master. He even smiled at the memory of Master Giiett -- one of the only ones on the Council that had actually spoken _for_ him, and had tried to support his Master after they lost Master Qui-Gon. 

That was right, Master Giiett _was_ Omega, wasn't he?

Obi-Wan walked back into his own room to have a clearer breathing space, and punched the comm code he had been given for the Naboo delegation. He hoped it was the handmaiden who answered, trusting her discretion most.

Anakin ate quickly and went to wash and change, wondering at that mention of extra underthings, but his Master probably had reason. He set to digging around for what he really knew about Manifesting, as opposed to what got said... and found it really wasn't much. 

Dormé was grateful for the sound of the comm that drew her away from her Lady's frustrated ill-humor, and answered it as soon as she'd stepped into the other room. "Naboo Senatorial apartments," she said, even before she saw the image of the caller, and that... "Oh! Hello, Master Jedi...?" 

"Kenobi, Lady Dormé," he supplied smoothly, half-smiling that she had not recognized him. "I am reaching out on the matter the security request we have. While Anakin and I are more than willing to come and appraise the situation, there is a chance we'd have to turn it over to another team," he told her. 

That was Obi-Wan Kenobi? He looked nothing like the young man they'd known a decade ago, not with his hair long and the beard obscuring his features -- at least, not at such a small scale. He hadn't made the HoloNet since he started growing that in, she thought. Or at least, Rabé hadn't mentioned it. 

"My apologies for not recognizing you, Master Jedi. I am glad to hear that you'll come, though I **deeply** hope that you don't have to do so." 

Obi-Wan rubbed at his beard. "It's a small matter of… health. Anakin is of a certain age, and life turned interesting on our trip back from our last mission. But we can assess the situation, and set things in motion while the pair I would recommend catch their own breaths from mission," he said smoothly. Manifesting was not a matter of shame, and people could disclose, or not, their status without fear of reprisal or discrimination in most of Republic space, but Obi-Wan didn't remember what customs the Naboo had around it.

Dormé blinked, then nodded -- from everything she had seen of the young man in his assorted HoloNet appearances, he would likely be Alpha... which might make things odd with her Lady for a bit, but remembering how strong a rapport they had had, it shouldn't be anything insurmountable. She knew she shouldn't assume, as Manifesting could go in any direction, but personality did play a factor... "All right, Master Kenobi. Hopefully you can talk her into accepting your replacements if it becomes necessary. We'll see you soon?" 

"Quite soon, milady." Obi-Wan gave her a small bow and cut the comm, then changed out of his own robes into ones less permeated with Anakin's scent. They would take a speeder, not mass-transit, to see to this.

* * *

The first that Padmé knew that her life had just grown more complicated than it already was as the face of the movement against militarization was when she heard the door open and the two Jedi were greeted. She had, somewhat, kept up with the boy from Tatooine, the one that had saved her world.

She never had truly expected to see him again; the galaxy was a large place, and for her life to intersect with the Jedi twice was unheard of. Many people lived their whole lives without ever seeing one, let alone interacting with one.

Then she actually came to where she could see them, and every instinct in the back of her brain focused sharply on the beautiful young man standing so tall and alert at the elder Jedi's side. She had never been exposed to an Omega; the Naboo government had done all they could to prevent her from becoming tied too strongly to one person when she Manifested.

She knew, without a doubt though, that the young man was very much one, and that he was so very much appealing to her nature as an Alpha right now.

Anakin had tried not to let his nerves get to him, had even tried to meditate (not that he had even a vaguely good relationship with that skill) to calm himself, but he wanted to see her so badly. He needed to know she was really safe, that she hadn't been hurt, that -- 

\-- she was there, standing in an interior doorway, and he couldn't hear Jar Jar's happy chattering or anything but the pound of his blood in his veins, couldn't see anything but her, and the Force felt like catching hold of live current as it hummed with satisfaction. He took a breath, trying to focus on not making a complete idiot out of himself, and a scent like nothing he'd ever breathed rolled through his nose. Everything he was screamed for him to go to her, to drop at her feet and give up his throat and he left his Master's side. 

Obi-Wan reached out to stop Anakin's passage, and there was a sharp noise, not quite a growl, but definitely commanding, from the Senator. He opened his senses a little wider, and that made him sigh, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Jar Jar, will you please excuse us?" he asked. ~Why me, Force?~

Padmé caught hold of her instincts after that sound escaped her, but it did not stop her from sizing up Anakin with all of her focus. He had grown far taller than she had expected, but then Shmi had not been tiny.

"Hello, Master Jedi. Ani?" she made herself say, keeping as much politeness as she could when every impulse said to take this young man to her room and lose herself in him.

The Gungan sniffed the air, yelped, and disappeared as quickly as his long, ungainly legs could take him. 

His Master's hand had almost caught Anakin, and for the first time in his life a threatening sound aimed at his Master hadn't set him to his defense. It'd been Padmé making the noise, noise that was another draw for him to come to her.

"Angel," Anakin heard himself say, feeling color spring up in his cheeks the moment after he did, but it had been all that would come to him, still was. She wasn't much taller than she had been, he thought, but she held herself with such a total air of command, so sure of herself, that it didn't matter at all. The scent that had taken hold of him before matched her stance, confident and secure and stable, a steady certain promise whispering that here he would be safe, here he wouldn't be alone, that here he had a place. "I -- you're so -- " 

"She's an Alpha, Anakin," Obi-Wan said neutrally. "Making your timing even more uniquely you, or something Force-driven. Then again, that is you," he said, using an indulgent tone. "Milady Amidala, we came to get the gist of what was happening, see what measures could be enacted, with a mind to introducing you to a pair of Jedi less hampered by biology at this point," he added. "I did not, knowingly, bring him here to tempt your nature."

Padmé took a deep breath -- oh but Anakin smelled like every sweet she had ever craved in her life! -- and made herself look at … Obi-Wan? He had changed!

"I do not need more security, as I told the Chancellor. I want answers as to who orchestrated the attack against us. However, you are assigned, and you are known to me. As opposed to whomever else you thought of," she said archly.

"Anakin's in no state for an extended mission," Obi-Wan said mildly.

Anakin had been around Alphas before, though, and it'd never been like this... He knew Master Tahl, and Master Mundi, and neither of them, or his Master's friend, Master Vos, had _ever_ made him feel like this, neither of their scents -- Force, why had he suddenly fixated on scent instead of sight, or sound, he wasn't Nautolan or Falleen! -- had ever made him want to give them his wrists and his throat and all of him, made his blood heat like this. 

The suddenly sharp edge of her voice rocked him back on his heels, tensing, and part of the haze in his mind that was needing her started to clear at the flat statement of something she wanted, needed -- they could get her that, the answers she wanted, and he glared back over his shoulder at his Master at the implication he couldn't handle it. "I can -- " 

"Anakin, no," Obi-Wan said in a firm, but quiet voice, even as Padmé's gaze came back to him. 

"You aren't doing anything like that, not when you'd draw every -- " She cut herself off as blatant jealousy made her aware of her words. She despised the emotion, and did all she could to guard against it. She had her ladies --

\-- but she wanted _him_. Was it just his state, or had the stress thrown off her suppressants?

Obi-Wan sighed ever so softly, as he saw the shape of a solution. If Anakin was with her, she'd be safer, even in the middle of mating. However, that was _his_ padawan!

Anakin scowled for a moment at his Master's refusal, but then Padmé was speaking and he snapped his gaze back to her, just before she stopped her words and he thought a trace of color was on her cheeks under her makeup. She didn't sound like she was rejecting him, in fact it sounded like the total opposite, and that made something tight along his spine relax, at least a little. 

He took another step towards her, his head tilting slightly, as he asked, soft, "No?" 

She did not blush anymore. She was a former queen, a current senator… and she was blushing a little. Thankfully, the makeup did help. "Anakin, you are at risk in your state." /From me, even. Why are you so beautiful in addition to being seductive?/

Obi-Wan shifted a little, making her eyes snap back to him, in case he was reaching for her -- not hers! -- for Anakin again.

"Milady, I have not yet arranged to help Anakin through this," he said gently. "And, it appears, you are not adverse to his presence. If both of you are in harmony on the idea, and you can promise not to make this the basis of something permanent, not yet anyway, when you do not really know each other, can I suggest that you aid him, and I will see to security?" He could be reasonable. Granted, the Force was all but humming at him over the timing of this.

Thank Force he was neither Alpha nor Omega! Between Master Tahl and Quin, along with his former padawan, Aayla, he had enough Alphas running through his life. At least Master Giiett, the only Omega he dealt with regularly, was a very calm person to deal with most of the time.

Anakin was at risk all the time, that -- putting yourself in danger for others -- was part of being Jedi, but the warmth and protective concern in her tone kept him from retorting angrily. He didn't want her upset, wanted anything _but_ her to be upset. His Master's voice drew his attention again, though the words were directed to her. Probably a good thing they had been, because he was shocked speechless at what his Master had said. 

The idea that his Master wasn't going to protest what he wanted so desperately, unlike almost every time in his life, was _amazing_. And no, 'this' wasn't the basis of anything, 'this' was just idiot biology... but he'd known she was his future forever. He just hoped that didn't scare her. 

Anakin searched her face for her reaction, listening to the Force -- not invading her thoughts, he wasn't that rude! -- to see if she would say 'yes', praying to the moons that she would. 

Padmé took a metaphorical step back, even as she realized that she'd never considered that Jedi would have this issue. Or how they handled it, with their many species and their call to duty. However, Anakin had been her friend and savior to her people. The idea of anyone else handling this (and it must be his first!) pained her soul.

"Anakin, do you consent to working this out of your system with me as your partner? With my word not to mark you, or bind you in any way?" she asked more formally. "I am interested, for more than just the biology pushing me, as you were my friend so many years ago."

Obi-Wan kept to himself, but listened intently and felt her sincerity in those words. This was so awkward and yet… it might just work better than anything he could have arranged at the Temple.

"Yes," Anakin answered her, instant and wholehearted, though he could almost have kicked his Master for the fact she thought she had to promise that. She didn't; he knew what and who he wanted... but she _had_ promised. And his Master had a point, he guessed, that they didn't really know each other. "I -- yes, please. If you're sure." 

Now she smiled. "Yes, Anakin." She reached out and offered him her hand. "Come; you have to be miserable in all those clothes."

"I'll just see myself to your captain." Obi-Wan would keep the lightest touches on his padawan's mind, even if that would be intrusive, because of the threat, not her. He trusted her, despite himself, to honor her words, since she had phrased them quite that way.  
"I'm used to them?" Anakin answered, though Padmé wasn't _wrong_ , not today. It felt like he was wrapped in jawa robes, or something worse. He reached for her hand, took it, and the contact with her skin made a shiver run through him as the Force sang out 'yes, yes' in a silent bell-tone. 

Was this really, actually happening? 

She tugged, very lightly, at his hand, and he followed her, completely willingly.

* * *

Diving out the window had actually seemed the best escape to make from the sex-laden atmosphere of the bedroom, Obi-Wan had decided about two seconds after said maneuver. He was so proud of Anakin's ability to put aside his lust-fueled nature for the necessity of combat against the invaders, yet now he was rather regretting all the excitement.

Not least of which, he decided ruefully, because he'd managed to get his outer tunic around the padawan just outside the bar the assassin had gone into, but that did not distract from how… mussed Anakin looked, how desperate the situation was making him, as they stayed near the fallen assassin and waited for Amidala's people to come recover them all.

He didn't want to think on what the flash of Mandalorian armor had done to him from this distance, either. Memory had no place here. He had not thought of _her_ in years.

"Stay close, Anakin," he warned, needlessly. The young man had had to wait outside for Obi-Wan to chase the assassin back out, and … even on the streets, Anakin's state had been noticed by a world full of jaded onlookers. His hair was a mess, he was wearing leggings and two tunics now, but he did not look the picture of a Jedi by a long shot.

And his scent -- he swore it was as much a Force-effect as actual scent, because Coruscant was a miasma of everything in the galaxy already -- was drawing the less-scrupulous to come closer, making Obi-Wan center and extend his Force signature into a posture of menace.

"Believe me, Master," Anakin said, his eyes swinging from the assassin's body to the crowd, "I have no intention of anything else." 

With the adrenaline fading out of his system it was getting difficult to think again, but his Force-sense was blown so wide-open that the avaricious thoughts of the ones staring at him, the fear in a few passers-by, and the desperation-fueled misery of Coruscant (why, why did they live here?) were all beating against him -- yet his Master was a solid steady bastion of calm, and close enough to him, the assault died down to something he could almost tolerate. 

Anakin shifted a little closer, trying to use his Master's calm to brace himself, and more than that, trying to ignore the need for touch, contact, skin on -- 

Force take it, no, he was going to get through this without doing something as completely idiotic as trying to climb into his Master's lap in front of a half-billion people. Besides, his Angel was waiting, because they'd kept her safe. 

"Shh, come here," Obi-Wan soothed, moving so he could get an arm around Anakin, picking up on the distress… or aware of how it could get, from his own friends who had Omega associates. "The Senator will be more relieved that I kept you safe than upset at my scent on you. That is why the bulk of the population is neither; otherwise the Alphas would have killed each other off."

He was overstating it; Alphas could be and often were good friends. Aayla and Quinlan were absolutely at peace with one another most of the time, after all. Or what passed for it between them, Obi-Wan amended. 

Anakin turned and pushed in under his arm, hand fastening in his Master's tunic as he breathed a sigh of relief -- that filled his nose with the safe, familiar, utterly known and beloved scent of his Master on the next inhale. His eyes half-closed, and he nodded a little, willing to trust his Master's read on his Angel, his Alpha (because he was hers, he'd always been hers, no matter what she'd promised, he knew) and her reaction. 

"I wish they'd hurry. It's too loud, and everyone..." he trailed off, not wanting to put the looks and thoughts he was picking up on to words. 

"It won't be much longer, Anakin." Obi-Wan kept his hand still, but he also tightened his arm protectively at one particular leering Twi'lek.

Nor was he wrong, as a vehicle came to a stop not far from the wrecked speeder they had used earlier. Dormé herself was piloting, and she opened the back portion, having brought a sensible model for carting a dead body around. Obi-Wan had already waved off Cor-Sec's inquiry by comm, placing this firmly under Jedi jurisdiction.

"Thank you, milady," he said. "If we can get Anakin back to your suite, and then request someone from the Temple come get this from us," he suggested, floating the body into the storage space.

"Of course." The woman looked Anakin over, decided he wasn't too much the worse for wear, and said nothing when the younger Jedi tucked back in on his master, once the elder was in and seated.

It had to be difficult to be in the middle of _that_ and be drawn to other kinds of action instead.

"Hi, Dormé," Anakin said, his eyes flicking forward to her, so relieved to be off the street and away from people, able to lean against his Master's body and at least pretend he wasn't going back to being able to think of nothing but sex. "Is P -- is she all right?" 

"Angry." Dormé smiled at the young man for that concern. "For many reasons."

"Well, we'll soon have part of that remedied," Obi-Wan said as he stroked Anakin's hair and just let him stay close. The sooner his padawan was through this, the sooner life could take on a new normal.

The trip back was as quick as she could make it for them, and Dormé remained back with Obi-Wan and the body as they sent Anakin on in… moved from Padmé's quarters to one of the other rooms in their suite, but he would have no trouble tracking her if she wasn't already waiting in the main room.

Anakin moved towards her instantly, so relieved to see her, to be able to breathe her scent, feel her in the Force -- but oh, she _was_ angry. He paused, two steps from her. He wanted her, needed her, but the anger told his instincts 'stop' and he heeded them, his eyes on her face. "My Lady?" 

Padmé raked her gaze over him, not liking him being clothed, away from her, possibly getting hurt -- she had to stop herself, and jerk that reaction under control. She breathed in, catching his scent, tainted by adrenaline and the other Jedi, but Kenobi was not a threat. Kenobi had kept her Anakin safe.

She clamped down on that possessiveness. Once his heat (and she was almost certain she was in, or close to, her rut) passed, they would have to see if they were actually compatible enough for the mating bond.

"Come here," she finally said, reaching for him.

He moved to her then, put his hand into hers before he slid it up her arm as he wrapped other arm around her back, dipping his head down to breathe her scent, feel her skin against his cheek, relaxing as her presence wrapped around him. His Alpha, his Angel, and he'd kept her safe, he'd protected her. When the adrenaline wore off, he'd felt so raw, ached everywhere she wasn't, but he was back with her now. "Oh," he breathed, soft, quietly joyous little noise. 

"Let's go back to bed, my Ani," she murmured against his chest, having tucked in against him, arms closing around him to hold him and know, in every part of her, that he was here, whole, and safe.

* * *

Anakin was only half aware of the brilliant sunlight streaming in over them through slits in the blinds, only half aware of anything that wasn't Padmé over him, breathing sated and ragged as his own, his body, at least for the moment, exhausted. All he could smell was their sweat and sex, and he was drifting in an euphoric haze, his mind almost entirely blank -- 

\-- and pain slammed into him, pain and fear and grief suddenly the entirety of his world as the voice he knew better than any other whispered, 'Ani, where are you?' But he'd never heard Mom's voice sound like that. Sound defeated and despairing, as though she was giving up. It hurt, her despair hurt more than the agony she was in... 

Padmé reacted to his body tensing by growling ever so softly, mouthing at his throat, her arms so strong around him. "Ani?"

In a different part of the suite, Obi-Wan's eyes flashed open from his light meditation. He had kept the lightest touch he could on Anakin to be certain his padawan was safe, and that pain, that misery, that fear… all rolled through him as if it were a distant memory of his own. He was on his feet in the next instant, going toward the bedroom, uncaring of propriety as his padawan _hurt_.

Anakin couldn't feel her, cut off from his body by the strength of the vision, as for a few moments he saw through his mother's eyes. Firelight flickering on stretched-hide, sandy ground, blood-soaked leather bindings on her wrists, and all he could feel was the pain she was in and her desperate thirst. 

He didn't know it when he whimpered from the combination, didn't know it when his hands tightened into fists, trapped with her. 

Padmé was torn from trying to comfort him to outraged protectiveness as her door opened… but then she recognized Kenobi, and made herself relax, shifting to Anakin's side, hitching the covers up to their waists.

Obi-Wan barely noticed her, moving to the other side of the bed and sitting on it, reaching for Anakin's face, deepening their bond as much as he dared. Those images, those impressions… and the roiling pain that soaked through a much earlier, strong Force-bond slapped him solidly in the face.

"Anakin," he said softly. "Anakin, I need you to help me. I need to know who that is, so I can try and fix this for you."

Another presence hit his awareness, pulled at him, pulling him away from her -- **no!**

He tried to hold on to her, to Mom, the pain worth it to hear her again, trying to tell her he was there... but the connection faded and he knew he wailed as his eyes snapped open. He didn't see anything for the first few seconds, and then he registered his Master's face, the hand on his cheek, Padmé laying along his side, small and solid and protectively concerned. 

How had his Master gotten in here? "Master?" 

"Yes, Anakin. Tell me who that was… where, if you can? And if it is now, or the future, if you can tell." Obi-Wan drew his hand back now that Anakin was lucid. "If that strong a vision is coming to you when the Force is being… itself… about you, I need to see what we can do."

Padmé stroked a hand over Anakin's chest. "Ani, tell us? Tell me what is wrong?"

"Mom," he answered, looking from his Master to his Angel, trying not to shudder with the memory of the pain she was in, "it's Mom. And it," he frowned, trying to sort the information, when his body was already trying to light with need again. Mom **needed** him, that was what all the dreams had been, she needed him and he hadn't known, hadn't gone, hadn't fought for her. "It feels like now. I saw... it looked like a Raider camp, but that could be anywhere..." 

Obi-Wan looked at Padmé, who was growing very angry.

"You didn't go back for his mother?!"

The elder Jedi shook his head. "I… I didn't know to do so," he admitted. "I assumed, wrongly, that your people would have reached out to her."

Now, Padmé flushed. She should have checked. "How do we fix this? I will not have Anakin's mother suffer!"

Obi-Wan nodded at her as he stood from the bed. "Take care of him. I'll reach out to a friend, see if I can arrange someone to go and track her down." He could not afford for his volatile padawan to have that Force bond snap and trigger something terrible.

After all, it had been the death of a parent that pushed Xanatos fully over. Not, he reminded himself, that the similarity was anything more than superficial. He just knew Anakin still struggled to handle loss and darker emotions.

Anakin reached for his Master even as he stood, that stammered 'I didn't know how to' absolutely rocking his world, and his eyes searched over his face even as part of him exulted in Padmé's instant anger for his sake. He was slipping back down into the haze of the heat, he knew he was, the pain-clarity of his vision fading again, but the idea that his Master would send help for her crawled in next to his heart and curled up warm and soft. 

It shouldn't have taken her being hurt, but... Obi-Wan had thought Padmé's people would take care of her? That was something else to think about -- when he could again, at least. 

"I have Anakin. You make certain she is found," Padmé said, tone imperious, but Anakin's blood was singing, scent hitting all the right spots to bring her back to needing him fully.

"I shall do my best."

* * *

Lissarkh snarled a little at the sand. She had agreed to help Bultar, family-by-choice, as Plo had finished Bultar's training when Micah had been badly injured, before Lissarkh began as a padawan. She did not, however, like this hot, dry world, or the sand, or the reason they were here.

She was not like most of her species, in that she absolutely loathed slavery, and now she was on a mission to find a slave, being tortured possibly, to help Kenobi's padawan escape Force visions.

It was not, she knew, the kind of mission the Council would approve of, but both Master Koon and Master Giiett often did as they pleased, outside of their Council duties.

Interrogating the one link they had, a junk dealer named Watto, had brought them to this farm in the middle of nowhere, and that had told them events were dire indeed.

"Kenobi said the boy is Force-bound to the woman. This means she is sensitive, yes? We have a direction. We will do this," the Trandoshan said, moving to the speeder they had hired in Mos Eisley.

"We will," Bultar Swan agreed, moving easily at her sister's side and taking the yoke. "Do you know anything about the people that have her, Lissarkh? I don't. Not that it matters much, with what they've done...." 

She did prefer to know things, though. She supposed that came from having been mostly raised by a Shadow. LIssarkh settled next to her, and she headed the speeder out into the sands along the route described. 

"Vicious. Typically not slavers. Usually only take young ones alive. My people do not hunt them," Lissarkh said, baring her teeth for that habit of theirs. "Too dangerous, as pack hunters, and all trained to fight." She scanned ahead, trying to filter for the way two suns made things look. At least one was close to setting, and the other not far behind. She itched to be where the woman was already, to set her free and bring justice, the kind that the Tuskens would understand.

That part of her violent nature was hard to suppress, but her Master had honed her sense of right and wrong, rather than inflicting a broken morality code on her.

Given that the Trandoshans hunted Wookies, that statement worried Bultar more than a little, but she pushed the concern away into the Force. "Are they resistant, like the Toydarian?" 

That had been exasperating, but thankfully, she'd had Lissarkh. 

Lissarkh tipped her head to the side, and then made a low noise when her memory failed to provide the answer. She had studied so many different species from the Rim, as her particular training was for dealing with hostilities along the rougher borders of the Republic.

"I cannot remember. Not a species normally off this world or causing trouble with Republic resources."

She would let Bultar lead; her sister-of-spirit was canny and older, more experienced. But, if violence was needed, she would do what it took. Her Master trusted in her to do this.

Bultar nodded, reaching over to stroke a hand over her sister's knuckles. "All right. It won't be hard to figure out, I'm sure. Time to see if we can't feel her, I think. If her pain could reach them all the way on Coruscant...." 

"Yes."

* * *

Plo wished he had some way to reassure this terribly abused human in his quarters. Bultar had departed to find her next mission; she was always the restless one. But Lissarkh had stayed, and was obviously being protective toward the human, which was always a good thing.

Granted, Lissarkh's protection could be frightening to some, but the woman was taking comfort in it.

"Lady Skywalker, my deepest apologies for your suffering," he began. "When your son came to live with us, certain assumptions were made in the aftermath of Master Jinn's death, and we did not know there was unfinished business on Tatooine.

"Knight Swan has said you chose to come here, rather than continue your life on Tatooine, and I will do what I can to ease your transition in life."

Shmi Skywalker shook her head slightly, watching this man -- odd-looking, especially with his mask and goggles -- from where she rested half-against Knight Lissarkh's broad shoulder. "I am no Lady," she told him, grateful for the amazing healing done on her throat and the rest of her body that let her speak easily, "and I am sorry to hear of his passing. 

"He was a good man, I think. As to coming here... I want to see my son. After that," she shrugged, still a slight motion. "I will be grateful for help." 

She cared about Cliegg, she truly did, but... it was no great passion, and after the last month, she knew she would never, could never, feel safe under the twin suns again. 

"Your son is unavailable at this time, I must admit," Plo told her. "But I will arrange that meeting as soon as it is possible." 

Lissarkh made a small sound of comfort, reacting to the slight tensing she had felt through her shoulder.

Plo shook his head. "The delay is not deliberate, Shmi Skywalker. He is not yet… recovered from his Manifesting. As his mother, you have a right to know that he did."

"He -- Manifested," Shmi repeated, her heart suddenly aching for her son, no matter which way it had gone... he would hate losing his self-control, if he was still like her boy, hate it and be uncertain of the change. That was the part of him she'd been the most worried over when he was a child, his inability to accept change without fighting it -- all too often, that was a death sentence for a slave. And it was a huge reason she'd been so accepting of letting him go. "Oh, Ani... Did -- did he at least have someone... careful, to help him through it?" 

"His teacher was involved in the process of making certain things went gently, and approved of the situation," Plo assured her. "Knight Kenobi, who was Master Jinn's padawan, has tried to take care in your son's training and upbringing, in all matters."

Lissarkh carefully kept her opinions on that matter to herself. She barely knew Anakin, and felt that was actually a problem. But then, Kenobi did like to be off-world as much as he could. Rumors, from Bultar, said he had never adjusted well to losing his Master so traumatically.

Shmi nodded, at least a little relieved by that, and breathed a quiet sigh. She hadn't wanted that for her son, no matter which way it had gone, but... done was done. "It's probably best that I have a little more time to get better, anyway," she had to admit. Anakin had never taken her pain at all well. 

"Quite likely. Would you prefer to take the padawan quarters in here, or should I find another room for you? You are here as my guest. Lissarkh is currently helping train Initiates, so she will be in residence in the quarters just next door."

Shmi studied Plo Koon for a few moments, trying to decide if he could be trusted, and then nodded acceptance. "I will stay with you," she said, "and I thank you." 

He nodded, then looked at Lissarkh. "I'll warn you; 'Soka has actually been on her best behavior while you were gone. I anticipate mischief or a misunderstanding soon."

The young knight gave a snort. "No one caught her, you mean. But thank you, master, for warning me. She will be bored, if she's been good this long."

Shmi raised an eyebrow, curious at the interplay, and then decided that it wasn't really her concern, at least not for the moment. Which was a good thing, as she was exhausted again.

* * *

Padmé glanced at the notifications on her data pad, even as she petted Anakin's hair. There had been no more distractions, and he was, at last, settled back into his control over himself, much as she was.

She did hope they proved to be compatible in other areas, as he certainly had suited her sexually. She wondered briefly what he and Sabé would think of each other, given that her handmaiden was very much a part of her heart and life.

"Ani, dear? There's a notice here that your master did have to go pursue the bounty hunter. He's arranged for a Master Unduli and Padawan Offee to aid my people in his absence."

Anakin nodded, leaning into her petting hand on his hair as much as he nuzzled against her. It felt so right to be here with her... much as he disliked the idea of his Master leaving without him. At least it was one of his Master's closer friends that he'd called to watch over them for this. "They're both Mirialan; Barriss is only a couple years younger than me."

Not that they got along at all well, she was so bound to the rules he considered more guidelines than anything... but he did like Master Unduli."I hope he hasn't gotten himself in _too_ much trouble." 

"I've heard that you and he wind up in the thick of trouble often," she said, reading through her other notifications. "I really do need us to get up and clean and dressed and eat more than the offerings Dormé's been slipping into the room.

"As I have a vote I need to be certain of, and allies to touch base with. And you should… go Jedi," she said, mouth curving in a smile.

Anakin sighed unhappily, but she was right. She had responsibilities, and so did he. He lifted his head, though, and sought a kiss, quietly happy noise leaving his lips as she met him willingly. Just a kiss, not driven by anything, and all the better for it. "...we do, don't we?" 

He would, then. He did have his Master to worry about and take care of, now that he could actually think again. 

"Yes. But, you may visit and comm me any time, if I am not in session," she told him. "You remember Artoo? Let him have your comm and he will put my codes in for you, encrypted."

She petted his hair one more time, then shooed him off her lap so she could wander to the 'fresher, pausing just long enough to look over her shoulder and be certain he was following her.

"Of course I remember Artoo; he saved my life," Anakin replied, before where she was headed registered. Hot water _and_ his Angel? Force, yes. He rolled to his feet, ignoring the ache of overworked muscles and joints, and trailed her.

* * *

At least, Obi-Wan comforted himself, he had been ordered by Master Giiett to report every change of location and use scheduled report ins. That meant his capture had probably been reported.

That didn't, however, mean it would help in the long run, other than to tell Anakin where he'd died.

~Oh, don't be quite so dire in your thoughts, Obi-Wan,~ came a deep, reassuring rumble. ~Micah had a bad feeling once your mission took you to Kamino. That was why he was monitoring so closely,~ Plo sent.

~Master?~

~We are here, a small task force to free you -- ~

~It's a trap! That's what Dooku wants! He needs to have a Republic aggression to start his war!~

Obi-Wan was not prepared for the level of vitriol and disgust in Plo's mind contact as Obi-Wan confirmed just who had taken him prisoner.

~Hold on. We will be there soon. Your padawan is leading us.~

~Oh, this will end well,~ Obi-Wan said wryly, both trusting his padawan's ability to find trouble and being terrified for the young man's life down under the sarcasm.

~There are plans in place.~

* * *

Plans could and would go astray. Plo Koon and Anakin were captured and put to the arena alongside Obi-Wan, but Mace's strikeforce arrived not long behind events starting, and Yoda's intervention interrupted Dooku in the middle of trying to force a surrender. Lissarkh, Micah, and Bultar had evaded capture and provided key intelligence to keep it from being quite as much of a slaughter… but losses were felt by all, especially once the Jedi who had survived actually saw the price paid by the men that treated them with such deference.

Dooku had escaped, to Micah's great frustration, as now he knew, beyond all doubts, that his growing suspicions were correct and the man had been the moving force to shove things all the way to war.

Only, who was his agent inside the Republic? Obi-Wan's report of a Sith there was likely true, even if the source of that information was Dooku himself. Just, who could it be, with that much influence?

It was a puzzle Micah would have to sort out, even as he took refuge, once back in the Temple, in the arms of his Alpha and his bond mate both, so that the grief and anger that had roiled across Geonosis could be purged from them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While Tahl still lost her sight, both she and Micah survived, because the missions that each would have been lost on happened with better support, given that Alphas and Omegas have to plan for things in such a way as to not leave their partner alone.


	3. Tampering With Nature

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the stress of the first battle fades, and the clones settle to their task, biology finally kicks over.

_22 BBY, not long after Geonosis_

The clones, having been of physical maturity, were thought to be immune to Manifesting, or that they were, like the bulk of the human population, solidly Beta.

The Kaminoans, the Jedi, and even the clones themselves had considered it a non-issue.

Sometimes, interfering with the natural order of aging could bite the smartest beings in the rear, and Plo was certain that the Force was laughing at them all as he watched, over the course of a few hours, as his Commander proved everyone wrong on the matter. The growing surliness, the absolute dominance over his own brothers, even the vague challenge thrown his own way told Plo that he was seeing an Alpha emerge among the clones.

After all, he'd been through this decades before with his dear friend Tahl, his own mate's Alpha.

~Bultar, are you still in the neighboring system to me?~ he asked by telepathy, reaching out to the woman in desperation. ~I need your help in determining a solution to a problem that has arisen.~

~I am, Father,~ Bultar answered, startled to feel the edge of real concern in her other Master's mind. This war was pushing all of them hard, but he sounded actively distressed, or rapidly heading for it. That meant absolutely nothing good, she was sure of it. ~What's wrong?~ 

~I have an Alpha Manifesting aboard my vessel, Bultar. And after scanning the surface thoughts of all the men, there doesn't appear to be an Omega arising at all. There are not women, or established Omegas, even among my Fleet crew,~ and she could tell he had issues with that as well, but they were secondary, ~which leaves me worried for the men he is closest to as well as his own sanity.~ He conveyed the sense that his concern stemmed from how strongly the emerging Alpha tried to care for and protect his men. ~Do you have any ideas on nearby, unattached Omegas? I know we have a few among the Order.~ 

~A few,~ Bultar agreed, ~but not many. Just a second, while I think.~ She steepled her fingers, opening her eyes again, and ran through the names of every Omega she knew, and where they'd last been located. Unfortunately, she came up with no-one even vaguely near them. ~No, there's no-one close to us, Father. I'll come.~ 

She knew her father, her first Master's mate, well enough to know that if there had been women among the Fleet component of her father's ship, they would have been asked if they could help only after being assured they had total right of refusal, but it was simply so much easier for women to handle an Alpha's mindless need than any Beta male, who were so easily badly hurt. Not that she wouldn't have preferred to have more than one woman -- she and Luminara had had a third to help with Quinlan, after all! 

~Bultar, I did not contact you to have you volunteer! I am certain I can educate the men on how best to handle him, and … assist.~ Such assistance would have to include using the Force to restrain the Alpha, which could very well prolong the ordeal, but it would protect the men, allow them time to actually prepare for intercourse more thoroughly. 

~Oh, hush,~ she replied, shaking her head though he could not, of course, see it. ~I know you didn't, but I'm right here, and it's hardly the first time I've dealt with an unbonded Alpha in rut. If he rejects me, that's a different story, and we'll go your way.~ 

Plo considered, then sent her an assent. ~I think I am going to be authoritarian and put him to sleep now, before the full rut hits. And talk to his closer brothers. I do look forward to seeing you, even if I wish it were gentler reasons, my child.~

~And I you, Father,~ Bultar answered, content. ~That sounds wise -- especially since I thought this was supposed to be impossible!~ 

~Indeed. And I will need to warn other units. May the Force keep you safe.~

* * *

She had really never expected any of this, Bultar Swan thought, a few steps away from the door of her Master's Commander's quarters, but this latest wrinkle was **really** a bit much. Any of the clones, the _vod'e_ , Manifesting was a shock after all of the Kaminoan assurances and their physical maturity levels (one day she would get to tell someone exactly what she thought of accelerated aging), but if one had to, couldn't it at least have been her own Thrust? She had barely met Father's Wolffe, and now... well. She'd had precious little chance to do anything but destroy since this war broke out, it would be pleasant to heal for once. First, talk to his Betas, his batchmates, _then_ hope he was still able to understand and accept. She rapped at the door, quick and firm, and waited. 

The door was opened by one of them at it, trying to block sight in as much as he could. He had pale hair... Bultar matched him with Plo's images of Sinker. 

"Sir!" He snapped to attention, but tried to come out into the hall, so the door could close behind him.

"Sinker," Bultar said steadily, looking at him, "I'm here to help. This isn't a conversation for a hallway. Let me in, so I can talk to you both, please." 

His distress was quite clear, but he could not disobey. He stepped back, letting her in, and she could see the other young man, Boost, rising from the side of the berth, where Wolffe was lying prone, twitching some despite the firmest commands Plo could put in place.

"Sir," Boost said, all of them just in their blacks and feeling vulnerable, with this commander down like this.

She shook her head, pulling up a gentle smile for them both. "I don't think I met either of you properly, the one time I was aboard here. I'm Bultar Swan," she shrugged slightly, "Knight. You can use first or last, but please, drop the 'sir'. There's no need for it, not now. How much did Father -- Master Plo -- tell you, so I know where to begin?" 

The two men exchanged a look, but that use of 'father' set them far more at ease, if more confused, than at first. They had observed their General taking a fatherly hand with many of them, and he had reached out, time and again, to them in the month and some since their assignment to him.

"Wolffe is experiencing a mating drive," Boost stated. "One that will need to be fulfilled, but can be dangerous for the unprepared."

Bultar nodded, and her lips quirked slightly. "Yes. I asked Thrust, and he says the Kaminoans taught you nothing about Manifesting, as they thought by picking a Beta, they would avoid having to deal with it. _Fools_. Irresponsible idiots. Manifesting is only partially genetic, we know that. Most of you probably will remain Betas -- like me, like most of the population of any species that has the traits -- but we're going to have to prepare for more like your Commander, now." 

"How do we help him, now?" Sinker asked, cutting to the heart of their current issue. "We can worry about our brothers later; it's our commander we need to fix now."

"Calm, vod," Boost told him softly. "The Jedi is here to help. Let her speak in her own way."

Bultar smiled at Sinker for his devotion, and at Boost for the steady soothing, and took a moment's breath. "I dislike throwing people into the deep end, and you have been. I thought to give you more information, first. But I can be blunt, as well. Your Wolffe _has_ to mate, and not just once. His body demands it, and there is no way to stop the first rut an Alpha falls into without permanently damaging them -- which is _not_ an option. He won't have any rational decision-making, or much awareness of what he's doing. Alone, he would hurt both of you -- not out of any wish to -- but because he won't be able to avoid it. If you, and he, will permit it, I can focus him mostly on me. Even though I'm a Beta, I'm female, and willing -- much, much harder to hurt in this than one of you boys. And I've dealt with an Alpha in rut before." 

Sinker didn't look amenable to the idea, but Boost was absolutely stunned at the offer.

"Sir... Swan? You... Why?" Boost asked, trying to make heads or tails of it.

"Will it always be like that for him?" Sinker asked instead.

Bultar shook her head and looked at Sinker first, "No. No it won't. Once he's out of it, it will be a while before the rut cycle would hit again; and more than that, there are suppressants he can take to stabilize him so it doesn't hit. It's this first one that's the worst. He'll go back to himself, once he's through the next... couple of days.

"As to why... my Father cares for him -- for all of you -- very much. And while I don't know Wolffe well, I care for _my_ men. I will not leave one of you hurting and at risk when I can help." 

The two men glanced at one another, then back at Wolffe, and Sinker swallowed hard. "We accept... if he does. If he doesn't... we'll do whatever is needed to keep him, no matter what."

"Of course," Bultar nodded, and stretched a careful hand out to him. "Sinker... I don't -- this is _not_ what I would wish, for him, or for you. You should not have to accept a stranger in your bed; you should have had time to become used to the idea, and... I am sorry." 

Sinker eyed the hand as if it were a live grenade for a long moment, but finally reached out and took it. Through the touch, she felt flashes of fear, memory of loss, and the overwhelming refrain of 'cannot lose him' with the sight of bodies given to the dark waves.

"It is more of an imposition on you, Sir... Swan... than us," he managed to say.

She shrugged slightly, holding his hand and feeling a sudden, fierce need to defend him, to keep him from suffering more of that. At least right now, she could. "Perhaps it is, but I have had the trip here to come to peace with that I would offer. Before I ask Father to release him so we can speak, is there anything else either of you need to know from me, or say?" 

Sinker shook his head.

"Thank you," Boost offered.

"You're welcome, Boost," Bultar told him, and half-closed her eyes to reach out for her Father. ~All right,~ she told him, ~they've agreed. Let him wake up for us.~ 

~You... are always such a gift to me, dear one,~ Plo sent back to her. He focused on Wolffe, and began releasing the Force compulsion to sleep, while layering as many defenses as he could, to help Wolffe retain some sense as he came alert.

Even with that, the man came to suddenly and with a snarl... before Sinker was at his side again and resting a hand on his chest.

[Easy, vod. Listen... no, you must listen to Swan.] He used the modified Mando'a of their own culture, a thing that was beginning to flourish and shape farther than any of their trainers could have suspected under Jedi guidance.

Bultar held still, watching the young Alpha steadily as he came alert. "Hello, Wolffe. Your brothers let me in, so that I can help you. I know you're aching right now, I understand, but can you talk to me?" 

Wolffe shoved up on the bed, to sit upright, even as he could smell the bodies of the three in the room with them, none of them quite right for his wishes... but they were warm and enticing nonetheless.

"I'm able," he managed, mustering all his will against the urge to just take what he wanted. But then, he lived with his emotions on a short fuse, and had mastered keeping that in check ever since he had been on the verge of being scrubbed. His remaining brothers had to have him in control.

Oh, he was far into it, Bultar realized, from the scent that rolled off of him and the sheer pound of need in the Force. "Good," she said, steady, and looked at him. "You already know what you need... will you let me help keep your brothers safe through it?" 

That was a solid focus for him. His brothers' safety mattered more than life itself, tied up in deep trauma. 

"How? General Koon said that I will not be reasonable as this progresses," he managed to ask, even as his hand twitched toward Sinker, needing more contact.

"You won't," she agreed, watching as Sinker pressed into that touch, "but if you'll accept me here with you -- accept me as a mate for this along with your brothers -- I can keep you from hurting them." 

"A Jedi?" Wolffe's eyes narrowed as he appraised her. Was this one more leash? Something to indebt him to her, more than just the fact they had been made for the Jedi?

"Wolffe, vod... she calls our general 'father'," Boost said softly. "She wants to help, for all our sakes."

"In this, Wolffe, only a woman," Bultar told him, "and no. Never a debt, oh fierce one. If you do not wish to see me again, after, I will more than understand. But you need help, and I can give it." 

Wolffe looked to Boost first, seeing the imploring look. He felt too damned hot, there were too many clothes, and no one smelled quite right, but storms, he hungered!

"Hoping you know what the _haran_ you're doing then, because women haven't exactly been a subject I studied," he managed to say, acquiescing to the demands, if it meant the need he felt could be eased... without hurting his batchmates.

She laughed for a moment, low and soft at the blunt profanity, and said, "No, I suppose we wouldn't be -- and yes, I promise I do." 

She moved to the bed, then, sitting down beside his hip and reaching carefully for his cheek. "I'll take care of you, Wolffe." 

Despite his wariness, her touch felt... so damned good. He pushed into it, and only barely kept from lunging for her, to hold her, to push her back, to ...

"get. These. clothes. off," he growled, eyes flashing at the absolute pulse of desire in his blood.

* * *

Wolffe was only the first. Worst, the distressing tendency seemed to be setting for a trend towards Alpha manifestations, confusing those healers and medical professionals who studied such things. 

It was over in Mundi's 21st Nova Corps that things finally exploded with an Omega on scene, stressing that unit more than many thought it would be able to handle.

That (as was reported back to Shaak Ti, who was compiling the master list of who was where with what Manifestation) was because Bacara, the Commander, had been an early Manifest as an Alpha, only days after Wolffe had recovered. That had made things difficult, as Ki-Adi-Mundi was also an Alpha, straining the cautious friendship that had been emerging. Nearly a month later, one of their troopers went into a sudden and intense heat, just hours after a particularly bad skirmish for the Marines.

Fortunately for all involved, Mundi's suppressants had managed to blunt the stress-reaction to an Omega in need, and he conceded that, for all Bacara did not actually share the common vod'e culture and language due to his training, he was a more acceptable candidate to aid the Omega. There was also the minor matter that Ki-Adi-Mundi considered all of the vod'e only children, and was therefore somewhat repulsed at the thought of bedding one, even only to help him through the heat. 

Reassured that Omegas could present in the vod'e, the healers added more educational material to what the units were getting on the matter, and began compiling all of the studies and evidence on why it would be unethical to deny the men their chance to breed, if it came to that.

After all, Vokara Che was no fool, and knew that it would be debated, if the Senate ever paid attention to the fact the men were now capable of such.

* * *

_22 BBY, Destruction of the original 104th unit_

Anakin touched the _Twilight_ down in the _Resolute_ 's hold, breathing out a soft sigh of relief before he looked back at Master Plo and the few of his men they'd been able to rescue from the wreckage the _Malevolence_ had left in its wake. They hadn't known Master Plo was alive -- that had only been known to part of the Council, apparently -- when they set out, but he hadn't been able to ignore Ahsoka's pleas. 

Not when Master Plo was so much of the reason Mom was alive and safe on Coruscant, the Muun accounting skills he hadn't known she had meaning that Master Giiett had her working directly with him. He couldn't, they couldn't, leave him out there, not when there was any chance he was alive. Not when Rex had gone tight and tense and his eyes had darkened to almost jet black at the news that Master Plo's ship was lost. He hadn't known Rex and Master Plo's Commander were close, but in the moment before Rex's shields locked down, he'd felt a ripping, devastating agony in him, and the name in it had been Wolffe. 

He'd had to go for that, too. He knew he drove Rex crazy sometimes, but he was so grateful he had him. And more grateful that (so far) Rex hadn't been caught up in the waves of Manifesting going on. He wanted his Captain to stay his Beta, and his Angel was of the same mind. 

"Here we are, safe and sound -- for the next few minutes, anyway," he said drily. 

Wolffe, for his part, was distracted by grief, that he was trying to hide, and old trauma that was harder to clamp down on. It had been enough that Plo only kept the lightest of traces on him, mentally, as they were confined in a relatively small space with the first Omega Wolffe had encountered. 

For not the first time, Plo didn't know if he should be thankful or relieved that Micah had not been able to come assist him on any maneuvers during the war.

"We are grateful, Skywalker. And Ahsoka," Plo said, as they readied to leave the ship, his men falling on duty to clear the way and disembark first, to protect the Jedi, even though it was completely unnecessary. Ahsoka grinned, but whether it was at them or his words, Plo could not tell.

Anakin shook his head and dared to reach out to lay his fingers against Master Plo's wrist for a moment. "No need, Master. We couldn't have done anything else." 

He followed them to the ramp, looking out over their heads to see that Kix was there, medic's kit and an anti-grav stretcher waiting, and he smiled before a flash of concern froze him in place as Wolffe's body tensed. The two days it'd taken while Kix went through rut in Medical and he was _anywhere but_ had been hell, one of his men had needed something he couldn't give -- he **had** an Alpha, and she had no intention of sharing with another one, ever -- and that had been awful. 

But he hadn't thought to warn Wolffe -- kriff, with the way vod'e gossiped he hadn't thought he needed to -- and that had, apparently, been wrong. Ahsoka, near him, went tense all over as she realized what was happening.

Sinker and Boost, as solid as they were in their own place as Betas to their Alpha, quickly moved to get between the two brothers. They had long since been used to deflecting Wolffe's aggression; this was just a little more explicit than usual, with no trigger they could see.

Plo, however, sighed softly and picked up his pace, moving to lay gentle hands on Wolffe's shoulders in reassurance.

"I do not believe any of my men require a medic at this time," he said. "Medic Kix. As the only injury of note is Boost's ribs, and they are merely bruised, per the scanner on the _Twilight_."

He didn't expect to win this one, as Kix had a reputation, and the men did need a proper exam… but the way Wolffe's trauma was rattling and now at odds with his Manifestation meant he had to try.

Kix's eyes narrowed as he watched Sinker and Boost get between him and Wolffe, Wolffe's sudden half-wild tension something he hadn't seen in years, and then the air brought him the scent and he groaned, though he didn't let himself dig into his temples the way he wanted. 

"Sir, the scanner in that thing is barely competent," he replied, his eyes never leaving Wolffe's face as he struggled to keep himself steady -- he didn't have this much damned trouble with Cody, for storms' sake -- as he watched him. "Commander... Wolffe... easy, _vod_. Easy. I'm just here to help." 

"Kix," Wolffe made himself say, even as he lightly shrugged off the grip on his shoulders and twisted between his brothers. He was not about to cope with them, especially with Boost injured, trying to protect him. It was his job, a job he had failed at for so many -- 

"Commander," Plo said, making himself stay where he was, but pressing patience toward the man, alongside all the compassion and shared grief.

"It's just Kix," Sinker said, keeping his voice low. "We've known him since he was three."

Wolffe heard and felt all the reassurances, making him remember the first rule of survival, that he not let his nature rule him. With a deep breath out, he nodded briefly. "Haven't you been training Coric?"

He trusted Kix, on one level. But right now, he could not abide the idea of another Alpha touching his batch-mates.

"Yeah, I have," Kix agreed, and studied Wolffe's face, reading the tension, the hyper-wary aggression, and sighed for a moment. "I'll get him up here, vod, he can check Boost and Sinker over. Come let me check on you -- you're in kriffing greys; don't give me that look." 

Anakin watched the half-confrontation, tension coiling down his spine, but Kix's dry, wryly accepting tone seemed to soothe some of the worst of it. Ahsoka was relaxing as well, her eyes darting from one to the other.

Wolffe nodded once, and almost looked back at Plo. The Jedi caught the aborted move and stepped closer to the other two, understanding from long experience of watching Ki-Adi and Tahl in the aftermath of rough missions. He was the surrogate protector as Wolffe stepped over to where Kix could deal with the psychically scarred Alpha-Commander.

Boost hated seeing Wolffe like this, was thankful the man was at least still verbal, and able to control it. Sinker was mostly in agreement, while adding a silent gratitude that they were off Kamino, that the Jedi accepted their oddities, even encouraged them. 

Kix lifted his comm and summoned Coric before he flicked the stretcher on so he could use it as a seat for Wolffe. He moved steadily, easily, his eyes on his brother's face, laying one hand on a knee for a moment. He could almost taste the shock and despair, especially with the surge of protectiveness fading again, and he spoke softly. "I'm glad to see you, brother. Even if this," he flicked his free hand at his face, indicating the hyperactive sense of scent that came along with the Alpha manifestation, shorthand for all of it, "is probably the last thing you needed." 

Wolffe snorted a little at that. "Should've known it would get you, of all brothers. Pushy glitch ever since I met you." He unsealed the uniform shirt so Kix could check, keeping that much of his autonomy in this exam. "Heard about Bacara. But he's a stranger to me."

"He's a stranger to all of us," Kix snorted, shaking his head as he set to work, carefully and gently checking his brother over, "but that's not on him. As to pushy, _hah_. If that were all it took, Rex would've too -- and so far he's _not_." He wound up speaking fast, shaking his head in reassurance as Wolffe went tight all over, his eyes snapping. 

Wolffe forced himself to nod at that, not really wishing this state on anyone else. Even with suppressants against the actual rut cycle, he knew his habits had changed, and he'd gotten more aggressive than ever with people. 

"Probably need to mark out who hits what and where, share it out, including any bondings that do happen," he said slowly. "To better help us protect each other. Because kriff it all, Kix, you're my friend… and for a few seconds, I would have broken your neck if you had touched either of my brothers.

"We can't avoid the stress that pushes us, but we can have more tools to keep it in check."

Sinker almost smiled. That was his commander and batchmate in all his complexity, so fierce and protective all in one, despite a temper bigger than Tipoca City itself.

"Yeah," Kix agreed, steady and even, "you're not wrong there, vod." He was under no illusions that if Wolffe had jumped at him he could've held his own -- Wolffe was Command and then some, and he stayed out of the hand to hand rings most of the time -- but then again, they had had three Jedi right there. It wouldn't have come to that. 

That didn't keep Wolffe's words from being the utter truth. He'd have tried for it. "I've been pulling some stuff together, I'll send it to you later. What'd _you_ do to your ribs; they're a damned mess." 

"Hadn't noticed," Wolffe said, honestly, because he'd made himself ignore the first twinges. He vaguely remembered something swatting him in the side as he made his way toward the pod, once he'd made certain everyone else had cleared the bridge. "And I'd appreciate it. We can't have brothers brawling over this."

Kix growled under his breath, wondering why the hell all command-track brothers were the most brilliant and the _stupidest_ men he'd ever met all at once, and grabbed a scanner to see if anything was broken. Or worse, ruptured under the skin. The bruises were livid enough it was a real concern. 

"No, that we can't have," he agreed. Especially not in the open, in front of Fleet or Jedi or (Force help them all) longnecks. If Wolffe was that bad about his Betas, though, what in the names of all the oceans was he going to be like if he actually claimed an Omega?

Wolffe stayed calm through the rest of the exam, didn't growl when Coric did show up to handle his brothers, and even listened to his Jedi about not needing to go to the bridge with him. He had a lot to think about, with the changes to their culture the Manifesting was causing, and that might distract him from the loss of all those brothers under his command.


	4. Confused and Rejected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barriss hits hers on Geonosis, and Ahsoka is with her. Only... it might not have been right enough.

_22 BBY, Geonosis, 2nd Battle Aftermath_

Instead of chasing after the Geonosian leadership, Luminara found herself hovering close to the events in the west end of the shared camp. Medic Kix, Commander Bacara, and Master Mundi had been firmly sent to the east end, as far as they could be moved, because fate, or the Force, had been very unkind to Barriss Offee in the time that she and Ahsoka Tano had been trapped inside the factory.

Even now, as she felt the wildness fading, she wondered if she should have intervened, spared the younger padawan, and yet… Tano had insisted, even as Skywalker shielded the pair from view in a Force-wrapped blanket, that she continue what had begun in the tank. The stubborn padawan had sent such an imploring look at Luminara that she could only assent, sensing that there was strong emotion at work.

Shaak, her dear friend and sometimes more, had not been available by comm, to see if this would negatively impact Ahsoka's development. The girl was firmly in puberty herself, and apparently Togruta showed their own signs in the way the rear lek and montrals developed. The girl would one day likely be an Alpha, and was being exposed to an Omega.

Luminara made a faint scowl. If she knew her padawan at all, she would bet the young woman rejected this as a loss of control that was inexcusable. Not for the first time, Luminara practiced just how she was going to speak with Barriss once it passed.

Finally, nearly three full days after being isolated in a tent of their own, the younger padawan stumbled out in a state of near exhaustion. Food and water had been pushed in for them, but the Manifesting had apparently precluded much in the way of rest.

"Tano?"

"She's asleep, now, Master," Ahsoka said, her voice tight with control, yet Luminara hadn't been involved with Shaak for so many years to not be able to read the lekku.

"Are you… alright?"

Ahsoka lowered her eyes at that, a sharp tooth visible as it worried at her lip. "She hates this. And… while she isn't blaming me, she doesn't want anything to do with me, because I… because I saw her like that.

"All I wanted to do was help, Master!" As those words exploded out quietly but with intense emotion, Ahsoka scuffed her feet in the dirt, reminding Luminara again that, for all Ahsoka might have adult social status among her people, she was not yet mature.

"I am grateful. In time, Barriss will understand better," Luminara said softly. "Go shower, then sleep. Yes, that order of operations, to be kind to the trio of Alphas wandering around."

"Yes, Master." Ahsoka looked back toward the tent, then let her awareness reach out, to guide her to her own people, to comfort. She wanted her Master before she slept, to figure out what she had done so wrong, in helping Barriss deal with the onset of her Omega needs.

* * *

Guided by that long ago incident with his own padawan, knowing how it had been the first blow to push Dooku away from peace and embracing the Jedi ways fully, Master Yoda made a point to go see the latest heir of his line when the report was discreetly shared among the Council on why Luminara had reassigned Barriss Offee, so close to being ready for the Trials, to Temple duty in the Healing Wing.

Anakin, of course, was skeptical of the ancient one's arrival, but he could not say 'no'. He then settled into a meeting with the small Grandmaster, at the elder's insistence.

"Coping with rejection, how is your padawan?"

Anakin grimaced. "She is. I think she's mostly confused, Master. Her people see sex as something that's just a fact of life. And she finds it unnatural to reject something that is inherently a part of you, I think."

"Share this opinion, many Jedi have. Accept that bonding happens, we do. Stress that duty must be first, also we do," Yoda said, and Anakin had to wonder if that was a backhanded slap at him for the _Malevolence_ incident. "However, some reject the Manifest. Much care will be taken, with Offee, to help her come to terms.

"Help Ahsoka, we must as well." Yoda peered up at Anakin. "Assigned her we did, without speaking to Master Ti. Unaware we were, of her potential. A problem, will it be?"

"No, Master. My Alpha and she have met and forged their own relationship to protect against it, if Ahsoka really does Manifest."

"Good, good. Troublesome, the pair of you, but well-matched as master and padawan, you are," Yoda said, and Anakin really wondered if he had awakened in a parallel universe. "Guard her from the rejection, you must. Broke my padawan, it did, to have a bad experience with his first Omega encounter, I now understand."

Anakin's eyes flew wide. "Dooku?"

Yoda's ears pinned flat. "Encountered an Omega he could not trust at first one. Did not care for the loss of control when he allowed himself to be persuaded to experience a second one. Chose sterility, to end the cycle completely, he did."

"And because the Manifestation is the will of the Force, that… corrupted something?"

"Maybe. Know for certain, we do not." Yoda tapped his stick lightly on the decking. "Let it fester, you should not. Be certain, to terms she comes with it."

"I will, Master Yoda. I promise. She's my padawan," Anakin said. "I can't let anything happen to her."

"Hmm. Live her life, she must. But guide it as best you can, is a master's duty."


	5. Medic's Headache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 501st gets their first Omega. Kix was slow on the pickup.

_21 BBY Early 2nd Year of the War_

Jesse eased away from Kix as the other man finally seemed to be settling down some from his emphatically possessive streak. He rolled to his side and looked at the brother that had been his best friend and more since before Geonosis, that first awful time.

"Not complaining, but… are you alright, vod? You're not maybe, I don't know, getting ready to do that Alpha thing full on, are you?"

"I'm going to shoot something if the suppressants are failing," Kix replied, blinking once at his Jesse, reaching to stroke his fingers down his mate's side, lightly. The first round of being out-of-his-mind mating-crazy had been quite enough for him for a lifetime... but now that Jesse asked, he was aware that something wasn't entirely normal. He frowned a little, tapping his fingers against his mate's skin. 

"Anything new? I know we ran with the 91st on this mission; do they have an Omega that might have gotten close while you were too busy to register it? You heard what Cod'ika said; it's like being hit with the rut all over again for the first contact with one."

The commander of the 212th had learned it the hard way, on a mission, with an entirely too willing and grateful member of the liberated population eager to show his gratitude in that fashion.

Fortunately, General Kenobi had handled the matter.

Kix hummed to himself, even as his mouth quirked at that Jesse got away with calling their Marshall Commander that particular nickname -- benefit of being one of the eldest, he supposed -- and considered the question. "Trapper didn't mention an Omega in his boys, and he's too good a medic not to have," he answered after a couple of seconds. 

The idea didn't sound entirely wrong, though, the more he thought about it. He tipped his head slightly. "...don't think it's the General, he smelled normal in medical..." 

Normal, he admitted privately, was damned appealing, but not... inciting. 

"Maybe one of our own newer troopers?" Jesse prodded, wanting to get to the bottom of this, rather than have Kix half-wound up. "I remember in that last briefing that it seemed like the Omegas were coming around more slowly than the Alphas did, but it seems to be picking up speed. Could be one of the ones in from Kamino in the last six months."

"...could be," Kix agreed after a couple of seconds, "and yeah, it has -- you gossiping old hen. Might be one of the shinies. I'll go wander around the barracks in a couple of hours, see if I can't sniff it out." 

He snorted disparagingly at the phrasing, but it was the truth of it. Something about the Manifesting made them able to find each other by scent, even across distances no human ought to be able to register any smell at. 

"Better take a shower, or you might incite a few to start," Jesse teased him before leaning in to claim a kiss of his own. He might be a Beta like ninety-seven percent of their brothers, but Kix was his and he was Kix's. All others they entertained were connections of a lesser degree, even with this strange Manifesting business.

"Yeah, yeah. Next you'll be teaching Rex how to shoot," Kix muttered, and dragged Jesse back close to him to get a little bit of sleep. If they had someone Manifesting, he was going to be short on it for a while.

* * *

Kix didn't want to think of it as prowling, but he was. He wandered through medical just to be certain, and then began a circuit of each company's area, leaving Torrent to the last, since he was around them most of the time that he was not in medical.

Not a single trooper, non-com, or officer struck him as anything odd, before he got back to Torrent's claimed space, entering through the trooper side, rather than the officer area.

Then it hit him with the force of a dozen stun rifles, leaving him paused in his tracks, as his nostrils flared, trying to capture more of the scent that promised everything that was perfect in life, outside of his Jesse. Worse, it hit his groin just as swiftly, making him half-hard and ready to pin whomever it was to the berth.

That, he squelched as hard as he could. He refused to be at the mercy of his biology, and had made his choice of mate before Torrent had fully formed. He looked around the dimly lit racks of berths, and let his nose guide his sight until it landed on one with a pair that were more interested in each other than sleeping.

Was that his fault, as his own scent was strongly edged toward Alpha right now, or was it a heat in the making for a new Omega? Maybe it was both, he decided, while debating how to figure out which pair that was so he could touch base later.

Fives twisted under Echo's body, quiet hungry whine in his throat, as he pushed up against him and clung harder to his shoulders. His brother and batchmate and partner was so good to him, normally everything he wanted, but right now it seemed like he just couldn't get enough. He broke the kiss to suck a breath, a second... and something in the air punched him in the throat and made him reel. It -- what was that? He wanted it, wanted that scent closer, wanted... 

"Fives?" Echo kept his voice as soft and low as he could, but that… that was disconcerting to have Fives' attention break during this. Normally, Fives' attention deficiency only applied when he wasn't being physical in some fashion.

Kix cursed a little in his head as the motion stopped, a tension there, and damn his soul, but that scent had just **increased**. Nothing for it but to walk over, Kix decided, glad the pair had a bunk a little out of the way from the others.

As he got close enough to spot art on the end of the berth rack, he wanted to curse again. The Domino survivors were both good men, but they could be so _young_ at times. Not young enough to be taboo, Kix knew, as they were only maybe two years behind his own batch, but Fives was like a tooka kit, and Echo had this way of still coming off as a shiny when he started quoting regs, despite being solid members of Torrent for a few months now.

Fives shook his head, Echo's voice dragging him away from whatever-it-was, and he fastened his mouth back on his mate's, clinging to him. His Echo. He twisted, trying to pull him deeper, and whined softly when it still wasn't enough... and then, then there was the scent again, stronger, and he knew all the way to his bones someone was watching them, not just seeing but watching. And oh, storms what was that scent, he wanted to taste whatever that was.... 

Echo growled as someone approached the rack, but Fives was just not with him, not fully, and they weren't clicking right. Fives was, and had been all evening, really into it, but they weren't reaching a peak that could satisfy his lover.

"Echo," came a voice that was like a million brothers and yet so distinct in the particular crisp authority it carried. "Fives. No, don't… don't separate from each other," Kix said in a low voice. "One of you is Manifesting. That means you need help. Finish this round, come find me."

Before he could just climb into the berth, in the common barracks of the troops, Kix made himself walk away and go back to the small room he and Jesse shared, even though it meant he was likely going to have to send his mate back to the barracks where he was supposed to sleep.

Fives froze at the sound of a voice that slid in under every defense he had and demanded he pay attention, but he -- oh, that was Kix, medic, good brother -- wasn't saying come away. He wouldn't have, anyway, Echo was _right here_. Manifesting? He cocked his head, his eyes opening into the dim light, trying to put that together, but Echo's arms tightened hard around him and he hummed pleasure and want, relaxing a little before the scent started going away and he whined.

Echo's tension only worsened at the whine… but Kix had said both should come? He focused on trying to chase the unhappiness away, giving Fives all he had and then some, just wanting to make his brother find a satisfying release at this point. They could chase the rest down with Kix.

* * *

Jesse had been more than alright with clearing out, going not to his own bunk but to find the Captain and warn him what was afoot. That let Kix shower, again, and get supplies on hand in the form of water and quick carbs.

He wasn't going to insist they let him help, even as his instincts screamed at him, but it would make it pass faster. He was glad they were on a long haul between missions, so they wouldn't have to worry about neglecting duty.

When his door had a rap against it, he made himself stay at the cramped desk to the side, rather than physically get it, not wanting to intimidate either of them.

"Come in; it's open."

Fives slid the door open and stepped in -- and that scent sank a fist into the composure he'd been able to drag up and wrecked it, making him almost stumble. He sucked a breath as he got out of the way so Echo could follow him in. He shifted his weight, his eyes finding Kix over at the desk, and he suddenly just wanted to go to him, to press into his arms and kiss him, wrap around him and -- 

He shook his head hard, joint at the base of his neck popping, and shifted backwards against Echo's solid, known and familiar strength instead. Kix wasn't -- Fives didn't do casual, everybody knew that, and Echo was his partner. But oh, storms, he wanted... 

Echo got in, felt all the tension in his lover, and couldn't help but tense himself. Yet, the medic was keeping as much distance as the small room allowed; it had been a supply closet at some point, but Kix's status as an Alpha and head medic of the legion had caused Anakin to rearrange some space for him.

"So it's you, Fives. Echo, are you alright, and handling this well?"

That was their medic, and Echo relaxed some. "Yes sir. It's Fives, and … he's Manifesting? I read the materials, but I just thought he was stressed."

"Must not have gotten all the way to heat yet, then," Kix said. "Fives? Talk to me, tell me how you're handling this."

Fives leaned against Echo and listened to that steady voice questioning how he was, and he shrugged, shaking his head a little. "I -- I'm not sure, sir. I hadn't realized anything was wrong until you were there, and then..." He felt color coming up in his cheeks and tried to ignore it, to ignore that his body was reacting to the scent in the air, and he still wanted to go get closer to Kix. "Know I've been all up on Echo all day, but... what's new there? It's... more difficult to think -- shut up, Echo, I _do_ think, thank you -- than usual, too." 

Echo snorted a little, but he wrapped his arms around Fives' waist and hooked his jaw over Fives' shoulder. "I haven't minded, except… I can't get him fully there, Kix, and that's new." He was going to be honest, even if it cost him, because he was worried for his lover.

Kix nodded, slowly evaluating his own reactions to the scent in the air, his instincts versus his self-control. "I'm going to offer to help with that, for both of you. I don't want an Omega bonded to me, Fives. Jesse and I chose each other a long time ago, and you two have seemed pretty stable since you arrived. 

"But it is easier to get through the first one of these with someone of the opposite nature. If you try to go it alone with just Echo, I have no idea how long it could last or how chafed he'd be by the end of it. If you both… and yes, Echo, I am perfectly capable of allowing you here… are willing, we can probably push it to full heat and be done with it in a day or two at most."

Fives shifted in Echo's hold, turning enough to be able to see his face (the line of his jaw and one eye, anyway) to see what he thought. Everything that'd been sent out about this agreed with what Kix said, and he knew all of his instincts wanted -- kriff, were screaming for -- him to say 'yes', but he had enough sense left to know Echo had to be okay with this first. 

That 'don't want an Omega bonded to me' stung, but... it hadn't been 'don't want _you_ ', so... that was okay. He didn't really want to be bonded to Kix, either. He liked him, a lot, but that wasn't enough. "E'ika?" 

Echo considered. "Jesse?"

"Is aware and understands. Also, while he and I are partners, we're not terribly exclusive about it. I'm tied up in taking care of you lot far too much to do that to him." That Rex needed him to be available was something not said; it was very odd to have a brother who could not take comfort with another one that was of a lower rank. Kix only worked because medics were outside the command chain in some ways.

"I want Fives to be happy and cared for," Echo said slowly. "But he is _my_ brother, and that means protecting him too. You're certain your own instincts won't go too far?"

Kix snorted. "I don't bother the General, so there's that for evidence. But when it comes right down to it, Echo? I need to be where all of you, all of my brothers, can claim me, and me them. Not tied down with just one. Jesse's a special case, because he keeps me closer to sane without infringing on that."

"Then I'm okay with it," Echo told them both, after weighing that a moment.

Fives grinned for a second at the reminder that their General (amazing and brilliant and dangerous) was like he was, it couldn't be all that bad if the General dealt with it and was still so... _him_. Echo and Kix's discussion all made sense, and he nodded. "The sooner we can get through this, the better, yeah?"

"Yeah, it will be," Kix said, standing up then and moving toward the berth. "Though, you both probably need to hit the snacks and water before we start," he added, as he started stripping down. "I already did."

"Point," Echo agreed, even as his eyes flicked over the medic's now-exposed chest. This wasn't quite his idea of how sex ought to work, but damned if they didn't have one of the prettiest brothers for their chief medic. He was almost as pretty as Fives, and that wasn't so bad in Echo's estimation of events.

Fives shifted against the hold Echo still had on him, a little, wanting to go get something to eat -- he was hungry, he finally noticed -- and a drink. Kix moving drew his eyes, though, and sight and scent alike tried to pull at him. He stomped on that, batting it aside, and nuzzled against Echo's throat before he went for the snacks. 

They'd be close enough soon enough.


	6. And Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Comet's news moves the status of the Vod'e An a notch, because... why have a child that will be property?
> 
> Only, Plo has Opinions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the M-Preg chapter. Just mentioned, no medical, no biology discussion, not really.

_21 BBY, Mid 2nd Year of the War_

Plo Koon was very aware of the fact that something was keeping the core of the Wolf Pack tied up in knots, but it wasn't until Captain Jag arrived to relieve Wolffe that he knew it was something approaching crisis level for them.

It was a very rare thing, after all, for Wolffe to allow anyone outside of himself, his two original brothers, or Comet, the Omega that Wolffe had bonded, to be primary guards of honor for Plo.

"Your brothers say they need you," Plo overheard Jag say to the Commander. "It's Comet."

Wolffe's jaw went tight, but there was nothing, duty-wise, that might keep him from going. He looked at Plo, his good eye widening with the question of if he could, and Plo nodded. The Alpha didn't hasten his steps, but no one made the mistake of getting in his way.

* * *

Sinker was sitting against the wall, Comet's head in his lap, while Boost sat at the end of the berth, working Comet's calves and feet in a firm-handed massage. As soon as Wolffe walked in, though, Comet jerked free and made to move toward Wolffe, only to be restrained by Sinker's' firm hand.

"Vod, shed the gear, and come up here with us?" Sinker invited.

"Yeah, that makes more sense," Comet agreed.

Wolffe did as he was bid almost instantly, stripping down to just the bottoms of the blacks before he slid onto the berth, braced up on his left arm so that he could easily see his Omega and his brothers. His right hand dropped to Comet's cheek gently, as he made a low, concerned noise. Jag hadn't said 'medical', so he'd come to quarters and been right, but what was going on that they'd asked Jag to get him in mid-shift. 

Boost just kept to what he was doing, watching Wolffe's protective -- not to say looming -- posture with a trace of a smile. 

"So, you know the extra part of Omega biology?" Comet began, even as he pressed into that touch. He'd come through first heat with Wolffe just fine, and then been hit with a second one after another mission had gone far worse than planned and his suppressants failed. That the four of them had such a stable relationship was what had kept them all strong enough to get through it, given that Wolffe had been injured for that one.

Sinker was keeping his commentary to himself, even as he kept turning this new complication over in his head.

Wolffe nodded. Of course he knew, he'd read everything he could get his hands on, everything their General could acquire for him. Any Omega could carry a child, regardless of birth sex, though the suppressants were supposed to keep that from happening until the Omega stopped taking them. Comet wasn't off his, he'd know... but he took a testing breath, dipping his head down, and he felt himself go still with shock. 

"I don't know how or why, but I know I am carrying," Comet said quietly. "And… that means we need to decide how to handle this. Because, I'm a soldier, and there's a war. But this could be our future, too. Our people, with an honest to storms future, Wolffe."

Wolffe blinked at that, still shocked almost to numbness, but... Comet's words lit a blaze in him that he didn't know how to handle. A future, for the Vod'e An, that wasn't just dying in this damned war. A future that involved children that were all theirs. He hadn't thought of that, of that their Omegas could actually _have_ children. 

Would a child from two of them be healthy? Combining the same genetics might not be safe, might make -- 

He cut off that thought, kicking it hard and shunting it away, because right now wasn't the time for that. He petted Comet's cheek again, gentle and slow (with a hand that shook a little) as he took a slow, steadying breath. "Yeah... we do have to. But stars, Com'ika, give me a second!" 

Boost snorted amusement, took his Alpha's heel in his mid-forearm without a noise of complaint, and went back to rubbing. 

"We've been talking it over ever since Comet woke up," Sinker said softly. "But yeah, you take a bit and think it over, Wolffe." He went back to rubbing Comet's scalp and petting his hair, even as Comet's words, again, struck fear in him.

The Jedi had given them as much freedom as they could, but would they even really have this choice? They were, when it all boiled down, property of the Republic, and Sinker had seen enough to know slaves only made new slaves on command.

Wolffe settled in, his hand drifting from Comet's cheek to Sinker's thigh and down over his Omega's shoulder. How had he not noticed the change in his scent before? It'd been weeks since that last heat! Why hadn't he known? "What made you sure?" he asked, soft, as he slid that off onto one track of his mind, another working on 'what do I want to do?' while a third spun nervously on 'what's going to happen when we tell anyone?' 

"Been nauseous, but that wasn't a big deal. Just noticed my middle getting a little firm, and I've had some discomfort in my lower back," Comet told him. "And I'm starving. Above and beyond the usual appetite, despite the nausea, which is easing."

"We went digging, once he told us when he got back from the 'fresher, what he thought, and it does match early signs for human variant male-carrying," Sinker said. "Didn't want to take it to medical, though, before we talked it out with you, and decided how to handle it. Because any medic is going to be duty bound to report it."

Wolffe nodded at that last -- of course they would, and he'd wring the neck of any medic that didn't report something that major -- even as it made him slide closer yet to his Omega, dropping onto a stretched-out elbow to run his hand under his back. "I knew about the nausea, some, but you muttered at me about fussing. 

"This..." he sighed, and held on, trying to come to terms with the idea. "Guess the most important question for _us_ is... do you want to do this?" 

Comet pressed in close, letting himself be held, be coddled, as his brain still insisted on calling it, even though he had gotten past his hang-ups over being counted as a fierce vod to tangle with.

"How can I not, Wolffe, with what it could mean for us? Am I terrified? Yes. But, I want both the promise of a better future, and I want this solid recognition of **us** , the four of us, as _aliit_." He then looked fully into Wolffe's face. "I just don't know what it's going to take for us to have it, when… well, we're the GAR."

Wolffe nodded, fingers under Comet's far shoulder slipping back up to curve around his cheek, a stubborn determination waking in him to ensure that his Omega got what he wanted, somehow. He didn't really care what it took, either. He shifted enough to kiss Comet a minute, steady and long and firm, just tasting him, reassuring them both a little more. When he finally broke the kiss, it was to go back to the conversation. "Yeah. That _is_ going to be the hell of it. As to how could you not... Lots of reasons people don't carry children, I've heard. But... you want to. So. 

"We dig into all the Fleet regs, and the worlds that have standing Security forces, figure out what's normal for someone carrying, how long you can keep to standard duties. Figure out how to adapt those for us, so we have a plan. ...and I talk to the General. If he'll back us," Wolffe let the last word die off without saying the 'it'll be a hell of a lot easier'. 

Sinker nodded at that. The General had done so damned much for them all, already. He was, in their biased opinion, the best Jedi in all the Army.

"Alright. I have faith in General _Buir_ ," Comet said. "He'll find a way for us to have our child."

Their child. Their _ad_. Wolffe shuddered a little, and tugged Comet tighter into his hold. The General's shift on the bridge would be over in an hour and change, he'd go to him then.

* * *

Wolffe kept his satisfied smile to himself as he stepped out of their quarters and found the General just coming to his, as he'd figured. He was only in greys, and part of his mind was absolutely screaming about that fact, but since no matter what the result of this talk was he was going to wind up crawling right back into bed (either in exultant relief or miserable fury) with his mates, there was no sense in armoring up for just a talk. "Sir? Do you have some time?" 

"Of course, Wolffe," Plo said, pointedly going for the name, instead of the rank, to show he knew there was something amiss. "Come in, and we'll talk." He could wait to be in his air; his men came first, and the outer room was still oxygenated.

Wolffe nodded and stepped in, looking for a few moments at the man that had fought for him, bled beside them, called his own _daughter_ to share his berth when he went into rut , personally threatened half a dozen medical personnel into not culling him when he was tortured, and crossed the small distance between them to push into his _jetii_ 's solid arms. 

Plo, despite his surprise, was immediately tightening his arms around Wolffe, worried now in ways he had not been at events.

" _Ad_?" he questioned, his voice gentle before he guided Wolffe to the cot opposite the desk, where one of them usually slept when Plo was in his own space. "What is it, my son?"

"...Comet's -- he's -- it must've been when the suppressants failed on us," he said, a little disjointed, even as he settled down with his _jetii_ , leaning against him. "He's carrying," he clarified, kicking himself for stumbling over it so badly.

"Carrying? You're a parent, with Comet?" Plo's voice was both stunned and happy, all in one. "This is momentous news, Wolffe. There have been no others… but then, you were also first in Manifesting." He brought one set of talons up to scratch, lightly, at Wolffe's scalp, knowing that it usually had a calming effect. "Unless… he does not wish it?"

Wolffe smiled at the joy in his _jetii_ 's, his _buir_ 's, voice and leaned into him a little more, making a quiet noise at the comforting scratch of talons in his hair, over his scalp. 'Momentous' news, that was a good way to put it, and that his General said it that way soothed a little bit of his uneasy fear. 

"No, no -- he wants it, he wants the _ik'aad_ ," Wolffe said, reassuring his General that _that_ was no problem. "It's just... we -- well, we know what we are, Sir. It'll have to be reported, and it's not like we're supposed to get that kind of medical leave or anything, and..." His blood ran cold, despite his _buir_ 's protective hold, and half in a whisper, he made himself voice their real, greatest fear. "...and will they even let us keep it? Or will it be property, too?" 

There was a faint crackle of energy in the air, before Plo managed to make himself lay his other hand against the metal of the bulkhead and push the extra static charge away.

"Over my dead body, Wolffe," he said in a deep, defiant voice. "Your children, all of them that may come to be, shall be born free. If I have to spirit every Omega to Dorin to make that happen, I will!" He shuddered at the very idea of enforcing this reprehensible condition on the children born of the unions he had seen actually increasing unit loyalty to one another.

It wasn't just about the Alpha/Omega bond. He had seen all of the brothers reaching out to guard the one and protect the other from the various ways their biology broke all of their training and conditioning.

"I have an ally I think I can call upon to be certain your children are free. And, if I may, I'd like to invite a Jedi healer here to examine Comet, and be certain that the aging hasn't affected this negatively."

Wolffe felt himself go almost boneless against his _jetii_ 's body, relief a wild cascade of collapsing muscle and a suddenly hammering heartbeat. That snarling, defiant fury was more reassuring than anything else could have been, and the immediate worst-case plot soothed him even more. His _jetii_ was willing to break law and custom to ensure the _vod'e_ children were born in freedom, and he sucked a deep breath. "I -- oh, _buir_ ," he murmured, trying to put everything his _jetii_ meant to him in the word. 

The mention of a Jedi healer made him nod -- he hadn't even thought of that yet. Their aging could really mess up a child, couldn't it? "A Jedi healer might be a good idea," he agreed, "make sure Comet and the _ik'aad_ are both okay. ...ally, sir?" 

"Senator Amidala," Plo soothed. "She has been working at the edges of your brothers' needs for freedom and recompense for all they have suffered," he pointed out. "If I bring this matter to her attention, I am certain she can and will get a rider through to prevent the Republic from having any claim on your children.

"That they may all wind up with Naboo citizenship is a possibility, but my own Senator will join her and at least half may become Dorin citizens instead," he added, voice going lighter in a teasing reassurance.

Citizenship. 

Somewhere for their children to belong to. That... that was amazing, more than he'd thought about. The mention of Senator Amidala made him grumble for a moment, despite that they had few better allies than Naboo's senator... she'd gotten too close to Boost, on the _Resolute_ just after they'd lost their first ship, and he hadn't taken it well. She'd been gracious, and kind -- and only the second Alpha he'd ever met. She was a good choice, they couldn't ask for a more determined ally, and as an Alpha herself, she ought to understand how important it was. 

"Mmm. She's a good one," he said, his brain wresting control back from his instincts. "And... you really think so, Sir? That they'll manage it?" 

Plo shifted so he could actually hug Wolffe tight in reassurance. "Yes, _ad_ , I do. She is a veteran politician, and wishes for the Republic to redress its wrongs. She will protect the next generation.

"Now, as to Comet. Shipside duty only, until he is uncomfortable in armor. Then, you can train him to help process the reports. We'll adjust things in here to let him use it as an office and resting place, when you and the other two are on duty. Will that suit you?"

Wolffe blinked and shifted into the solid embrace, held in his _jetii_ 's arms, and considered that. It sounded good to him, and he nodded. Shipboard certainly didn't mean 'safe', but it was safer than having him on the ground -- every instinct he had snarled at that thought, and he growled in exasperation at himself -- would be. "Sounds good to me, sir. Very good, even. I'd thought about going through Fleet regs and some of the worlds with standing security forces, see how they handle it, but. I like your thoughts." 

"I don't like the idea of separating him out, and that is how they handle it in such dangerous circumstances. I know he'd rather face death here, with us, than survive, without." Plo would wish otherwise, but he was grasping the Vod'e An mentality as he gave himself more and more to their care. "Now, back to your mate, my son, and let me do what is needed."

Wolffe leaned against him for another few moments, then nodded and shifted out of the embrace. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."


	7. An Error in Manipulation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Palpatine, believing Anakin is unbonded, makes a move to captrue his loyalty fully.
> 
> Oops.

_21 BBY, Mid 2nd Year of the War (Coruscant)_

It seemed as if Padmé Amidala no sooner handled the issue of the Omega soldiers having free-born children than her own Omega was turning up on her doorstep, obviously on the edge of heat. This was not the first time in the war it had happened, as Anakin's stress levels and the suppressants had not mixed well.

Only the fact that the incident with the 104th losing their ship had been enough to send Master Giiett into his own for the first time in years had helped Anakin cope with knowing he had to leave his men and go to Padmé that first time. Now, he had left ship as fast as he realized, not wanting to stress Kix, or potentially stress his padawan. According to Master Ti, Ahsoka was likely to Manifest as an Alpha, as the Togruta actually did display warning signs during puberty.

"Ani," Padmé managed to get out before his scent hit her. "Oh… damn. I have a meeting I cannot postpone. I agreed to it in order to get the support I needed for that rider I put on for the men," she told him even as she crossed the floor to pull him close.

"It's okay," he said as he nuzzled against her, breathing in her steady, calming scent, burrowed against her and licking for a moment at the bared skin of her neck. "I'm not... brainless with it, not yet. Not by a long shot. I'll go check in with the Chancellor while you're busy, I haven't been on Coruscant in months. 

"Any idea how long you'll be?" 

"No, though I will try to keep it as short as possible. And yes, good. He wasn't in the Senate for a few days, but he didn't appear unwell this morning when he did come in, so maybe he was just taking a small break to refresh himself. I haven't seen him personally in weeks." She ran her mouth over his own throat, then edged his tunics aside enough to find the permanent mark she'd made on his collarbone to kiss him there.

Anakin mewled at that, his arms tightening around her as a jolt of need and want slammed through him from her mouth on that mark, but he managed not to sink to his knees. And he had to let her go off and do politics, after that? 

Not fair. 

He made himself let go, and nodded at the information, though he frowned a little. "Or he was just good at pretending to be well." 

He didn't want anything to happen to his friend. He'd check on him, along with just talking to him. 

"I'd like to think he can't fool me, Ani, but you're right." She ran a hand along his cheek, then turned to finish getting ready for her meeting. "I'll see you as soon as I can, my love, and then… then it will just be us for as long as you need me."

He made a soft, happy noise at the petting and the thought, unwillingly letting her out of his arms. He'd be back with her soon, he would, and they could deal with how much his entire body ached for her.

* * *

Anakin stepped into the Chancellor's office -- having commed ahead of himself -- his eyes looking for his long-time friend, and was a few steps into the room before he realized that every inch of his skin was crawling and every instinct he had was screaming 'run, run **now** '. The scent of an Alpha, male, in rut was thick in his nose, and he had to get away. 

"Ahh, Anakin, there you are!" his friend called to him, coming into view from one of the side rooms. "It is so good to see you!" Palpatine crossed the room to come to stand near him, the smell permeating everything in the room, including the Chancellor's clothing.

"I -- it's good to see you, Sir," Anakin managed, his voice shaking a little as the scent -- wrong, heavy, the Chancellor wasn't an Alpha, how was it everywhere? -- played havoc with his instincts and his starting heat. The mark on his collarbone felt hot and sharp, reminding him he was already willingly claimed, and the Force jangled with warning. "I -- was an Alpha just here?"

He hadn't passed anyone, but there was more than one lift up, and the exit into the Senate chamber, too. He hadn't smelled it in the hall, either, but it was painfully heavy here. He coughed, trying to clear his throat, and breathed as little as he could. 

"What? Oh I have no idea, Anakin. I'm sorry; I don't pay much mind to such things," Palpatine told him. "Are you having difficulty? I could get you some water." He slid his hand around Anakin's shoulder, shifting to guide the young man toward a chair, deeper into the scent permeating the room.

Anakin ducked out from under his hand, shaking his head -- he couldn't let someone not-theirs touch him, not now. He was too close to heat, it was getting closer by the minute, he had to get _out_ of here. "No, that's not -- I -- yes, I am, I can't be here, I'm sorry, I have to go, I'm so sorry." 

"Anakin, wait -- " fell on mostly deaf ears as Anakin hightailed it away from that smell, away from what it was doing to him, and back to the safety of his Alpha's apartment.

* * *

Padmé came in almost an hour after Anakin had gotten there and thrown himself into giving Threepio an overhaul on all his servos. It distracted him, allowed him to ignore the state his body was in… but the instant the door opened, he was so grateful and attuned to her alone.

For her part, she entered to the sweet scent of her Omega befouled with anxiety and other negative emotions, as well as -- that almost smelled like an Alpha's scent! Her instincts lashed out sharply, and she had crossed to him, hands moving over his upper body even as her mouth, and teeth, worried at his throat with intent. She couldn't help the low growl; he was hers and she was his; anything interfering with that was a threat.

"Yours," Anakin answered her, even as he bared his throat to her teeth and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding on close, "yours, Angel, _yours_ , my Alpha." 

He pushed into her assessing hands, into her teeth, and breathed as deep as he could to fill his nose with her scent, to calm his riled mind. She was here, she was his and he was hers, and everything was okay now. She had him. 

"Yes," she said, voice husky as his state and the threat both combined to push her toward an edge. "I am your Alpha," she told him, before making herself pull away from his throat. "Bedroom, Anakin. I want you comfortable and in our bed. I don't know who approached you in your state, but I will not stand for this smell on you," she added.

Anakin moved, heading for the bed as soon as she released him, before a flush touched his cheeks as he realized how badly the scent had upset his Alpha, and he looked at her apologetically, still moving. "Sorry -- should've showered as soon as I got back, but I like those with you better..." 

"It's alright, Ani; I'd rather push it off you this way," she told him, not letting much distance get between them.

* * *

Later, much calmer, and in a respite from his needs, Padmé held Anakin close, petting his hair. "Tell me who was the interloper? I want to make certain they know they trespassed."

Anakin tucked against her, sighing content at the feeling of her hand in his hair, before he made a quietly confused noise. "That's the strange thing. I didn't see anyone but the Chancellor... but his office was just **full** of the scent. It was everywhere, on him, in the air." 

He made a face, his mouth twisting a little. "I was rude, I know, but I had to get out of there..." 

Padmé tangled her leg in his a little more firmly. "I'd rather you be rude than uncomfortable or at risk, my love. But that is very odd. He is certainly not an Alpha; Naboo custom requires any politician to declare our status once it is known, because of certain restrictions on Alphas in certain offices." She had been prevented from meeting Omegas, for instance, as Queen, because of undue influence in a potential mating. The defense minister was never allowed to be one, either.

"I'll go visit. See what I can learn. Later. After you are past this, and more settled."

Anakin nodded and nuzzled her, pressing a kiss against her skin, relaxing completely, again. "I know he's not," he agreed. "He's a Beta; we talked about it a couple of times. But the scent was everywhere. He said, what was it, 'I don't pay much attention to such things'? I think. Something like that, when I asked if an Alpha'd just been there. 

"I'll go apologize later." 

"No you won't." Padmé stroked his hair again before pulling his chin up a little. "Would you ask one of your troopers to apologize to someone that was blaring noise and lights where they were expected, and they reacted by leaving to protect themselves from the trauma?"

Anakin blinked at her set, dark eyes, and the set of her jaw that told him she was very determined about this, and shook his head. "No, of course I wouldn't, but -- " 

"But nothing, Anakin. He knows you are an Omega. In this day and age, what he did was not only rude, it was inhospitable. He knew you'd be calling on him, and no one just ignores an Alpha smelling that strong. Not even a Beta. He should have had his fans running strongly after whomever it was left, so you would be at ease," Padmé said. "Because I know he is aware of your movements. 

"Like me, he gets an alert when your ship requests clearance. And he would expect you to come visit soon; he's your friend, after all."

"I commed to say I was on the way," Anakin had to admit, as her words put things in a somewhat different light, and he pressed his jaw against her wrist. He would've done his damnedest to get the air purified before any of the Omegas he knew were near him, if she'd been in rut, or Kix had, it was true... 

"Then he has no excuse." Padmé kissed him lightly. "Now, about that shower, Ani…."

* * *

Padmé Amidala rarely paid visits in full regalia to the Chancellor's office, but she was in a mood over the affront to Anakin's, and her own, senses with that incident. She made certain to dress fully to her station, as both a Senator and as a former Monarch of Naboo, custom and courtesy etched into every stitch of her elegant clothing.

The door to Palpatine's quarters opened, with Anakin in his full Jedi attire, and --

\-- the stench of Alpha pheromones hit them both full in the face. With a growl, Padmé pushed Anakin back behind her, one of the few times she had used the slightly higher strength her Manifestation gave her against her mate.

"Go. Just go," she told him in very low tones before forging forward, her voice and body posture demanding obedience, even though she normally tried so hard not to take an upper hand with him.

He wasn't used, at all, to Padmé using how strong she was, or actually trying to command him -- and for a moment, his rebellious streak surged, but... this was his Angel, his Alpha, his utterly worshipped mate. Also, it still stunk in there, and he didn't actually _want_ to go in. "Yes, my lady," he answered the advancing, furious line of her spine, and stepped away from the doors. They sealed her in with that reek, and he went just far enough away to be close to the nearest of the Home Guard men. 

He wasn't going to _leave_ her alone there; not with that smell in the air, she'd be half-wild when she came back out, she'd need him. 

"Chancellor, who has been visiting you that this reek is so strong in here?" Padmé demanded of the surprised man.

"Reek? Oh, is there a problem? One of my staff had brought in a new incense," he said, ignoring the rudeness and deflecting the cause of her concern. "They stated it would aid my concentration and drive."

Padmé's temper flared; how could he be so obtuse? No Beta fully ignored the ramifications of an Alpha, or failed to know the signs of one, not among humans. Did he think she was stupid? However, she had not survived in political arenas for so long without learning how to guard against such instinctive reactions.

"I suggest, Chancellor, you remove it, and counsel your staff member about using illegal substances," she said coolly. "Master Jedi Skywalker will not be visiting with you today, or until this smell has been dissipated, for his own sake.

"As your _incense_ is shedding Alpha markers, at a rate that is very harmful to those of us who are Manifested." She gave him a very brief nod, and swept out without saying a further word.

Her trust was thoroughly shaken, as she returned to her mate outside the office. Why had the man done something like that, just now, when her Omega was most at risk?

Anakin was startled as she came out so quickly -- he'd rather expected that she'd be in there for some time, trying to figure out who was being so... difficult (idiotic, going out like that), but he held his tongue as he felt the barely-controlled wash of her fury and confusion. He just searched her face, trying to figure out what was going on, and moved to her side, offering her his arm. 

She placed her hand on his arm, then covered it with her other one, keeping secure hold of him while giving the illusion of him escorting her. "Not back to the apartment," she said once they had gotten out of the direct hallway near the office. She kept her voice very low as she spoke. "Temple."

Still more than a little unsettled, Anakin was so very willing to be held onto by his Alpha, but the destination made his head turn down towards her, blinking in surprise. "The Temple, Angel?" he asked, his voice just as soft. 

They wouldn't have to return to get to the speeder she kept in the Senatorial garage, no... and if they went in her speeder, he'd have to come back again after the Temple's. Okay, then. 

"Yes, Ani." She squeezed his arm gently. "I want to get my head clear in a quiet place, and know I would be welcome to visit there."

It was a good excuse; she was known to be a Jedi ally, even if they had not been public in their own bonding as Alpha and Omega. That, she decided, was something that would likely need to be changed soon, just to ram home how affronted she was by Palpatine's misstep.

* * *

At the Temple, she went straight to Micah Giiett, knowing he was in residence. He had actually been the one to forward the concerns about the Omegas among the men to her, allowing her to ferret out which trooper was likely carrying. After all, in getting to know Anakin and Obi-Wan, she was learning other Jedi, and it was so clear to her that Masters Giiett and Koon were all but married, and partnered ably to the fascinatingly fierce Master Tahl.

Anakin had just said the Council had long ago had to accept that triumvirate, as Plo Koon was from a communal species with a need for a bond, and that Manifestations were always pardoned as the Will of the Force, when they led to bonds. It was why she was known to be Anakin's mate, inside the Order.

Finding Micah had the side effect of letting Anakin see Shmi, as the woman had never been moved out of the Temple, not when her knowledge of Muun accounting had allowed Micah to gain a small foothold in deciphering records that might lead to the Republic Sith.

Anakin wrapped himself around his mother, burrowing his head against her hair and breathing, while Micah looked up with a worried tip of his head, then came to meet the Senator in full regalia. 

"Senator Amidala, welcome," he said, and then took a half-step back at the scent -- not her own, at all -- clinging to her. "Are you all right, my lady?" 

"No, not really." She reached out for his hands, to reassure him but not to press too much into his space. "I apologize; I should perhaps have gone to change, but then again, you might need to know the full impact of what Anakin was subjected to the other day, and was still present.

"The Chancellor claimed it was an incense causing the smell, but no one in human circles can possibly ignore Alpha pheromones that obliviously!"

She was growing angry all over again, but she glanced at Anakin, being mothered by the very calm and patient woman Shmi was, and it helped settle her back away from her aggression.

Micah was so taken aback that he stared at her for a moment, his eyes wide, before he shook his head. "I'm sorry, my lady, am I understanding you correctly that that rather disturbing scent all over you came from the Chancellor's office? And is still as strong as it is after a trip from the Senate?" 

"Yes." She moved a bit away from him, to better avoid offending his senses, and sat down carefully. "I went with Anakin today, to remind him that he should better clear the air after an Alpha visits, when he is expecting an Omega visitor… and the air was choking with that scent, Master Giiett. I did push Anakin back out of it, so he did not get pushed by it so close to an episode, and I fear I was quite abrupt with the Chancellor, but --"

Now she paused as her nebulous reasons for fleeing here tried to work into words. "It had to have been deliberate. Nabooians in politics study every aspect of the people they interact with. To have that scent, an illegal one in most systems when it is artificially produced, means he intended to use it against Anakin, I think. To possibly sway his opinions."

"You've never officially stated that you took my son as a bonded mate," Shmi reasoned aloud. "Could he have wished to try and ensnare my Ani?"

Micah's dark eyes narrowed dangerously at that question. It was not impossible for a Beta to do so, not with a supply of those pheromones and enough strength of will (and the right tools) and endurance... but that was why those pheromones were illegal to synthesize or utilize. It would be almost impossible to entrap a Jedi as strong as Anakin Skywalker, but 'almost' wasn't 'impossible', and an Omega being drugged in that fashion was almost always deeply unstable. 

"He wouldn't," Anakin said, sharp, while Micah was still thinking about it, shaking his head. "He's been my friend as long as I've been in the Temple, Mom..." 

"A powerful man like that, befriending a boy?" she asked him skeptically.

"The Chancellor passed all of my own checks against deviancy, Shmi, before I assented to allow access," Micah said. "However, I was looking for any signs of untowardness with minors, not Manifested status."

"He always said it was out of gratitude, when we corresponded and he would mention Anakin," Padmé said thoughtfully. "But… it does seem a bit odd, now, to think about it from a politician's point of view.

"Anakin, love, I know you count him as friend. I count him as mentor. But the last year or so has seen me growing more disillusioned with his leadership than not. I wonder if he's just not quite handling the stress well."

Micah frowned as he watched Anakin -- who had one of the deepest bonds with his Alpha Micah had ever seen -- nearly snarled at the woman Micah well knew he worshipped, his weight shifting uneasily. That concerned Micah, and beside the young man, Shmi wrapped her arm closer around him, a quietly soothing noise low in her throat. 

"I just don't believe he'd try anything like that, Angel, he's never -- "

Padmé was up and moving, crossing the room to kneel in front of Anakin, a posture that set both their instincts spinning, but one she felt was needed now, to calm him.

"My love. That incense, as he called it, was set deliberately. Knowing you were coming. Knowing your status. Believing you to be unbonded. Can you not see it looks suspicious?" she asked him earnestly.

Micah watched the confusion and unease write itself across Anakin's face, watched as he reached for her hands and held on... and then slowly nodded, though it looked almost like it hurt him to do so. "It -- it does," he admitted, his voice more unsteady than Micah would have expected. From the incredibly headstrong, determined young Knight, that was baffling, and Micah frowned. "But -- " 

"Ani," Shmi said, frowning, her hand on her son's shoulder lightly, "what's clouding your judgement so badly? You're wiser than this..." 

Padmé threw her a grateful look, before she leaned in and rested her head on his lap. "Anakin, your mother is right. Something is wrong."

"I'd almost call it a manipulation, the way you are reacting, young one," Micah said softly. "Unfortunately, that is not my area of expertise, and someone who is thinks he's a better general than healer these days," he said, using a touch of exasperation and humor to throw Anakin a lifeline against any darkness crowding in. He knew Kenobi thought the man was volatile in his control over such, after all.

Anakin laughed for a moment at the sarcasm directed at Master Plo, but Micah could feel a coiling tension in the Force as much as he could see it in his posture. The Senator stayed where she was, resting against him, almost the most vulnerable Micah had ever seen an Alpha make themself, her hand shifting to lay on his thigh, and the young man shuddered. "I -- I want to say you're all overreacting, but I know what I'd be saying if it was Fives or Comet or.. or you, Master. 

" -- _Force_ , there's an Omega in the Guard, isn't there, Master?!" 

"Yes, Anakin. Younger than some of the others, man named Daze," Micah said softly, nodding encouragingly for Anakin trying to work through this on his own. "Solid enough trooper, but I do recall that if Master Yoda hadn't brought him to my attention that his education might have been a bit lacking. The materials in the full GAR had not circulated to them, it seems.

"And you are doing well, Anakin, to question it from that angle." Micah gave him a small smile to encourage him further. "As the Senator said, he may be bending under the stress. He's held office for eleven years, through very trying times. It would not be the first time a politician tried to get a better hold on a Jedi, to try and influence events."

How the boy managed to look protectively angry for the trooper, shyly pleased at the mild compliment, and unsettled and distressed at the last words in such quick succession, Micah had no idea, but it looked as though the protectiveness was winning out in him. He raked one hand through his hair, taking a hard, slow breath, and... the uncertainty surged back up. "I don't... He's not..." 

"Ani," Padmé said softly, drawing his eyes down to her face. She let her emotions, the ones not bordering on psychotic rage for him, show, the fear strongest. "This isn't you. I was angry when we came; now I am scared for you, for whatever is going on in your head. You're never like this."

"Listen to your bondmate, Ani," Shmi said in her quiet voice. "You know that no one in power truly does anything without looking for return. It's the first rule of life."

"You're still angry," Anakin replied almost absently, his voice unsteady, but he looked towards his mother with fright and pain both shining in his eyes. "I -- I know you're right, Mom, Angel, but I -- I can't..." 

"No, you can't can you?" Micah made a humming noise for a long moment. "Would you allow Master Tiin to assist? He is here, and not currently helping negotiate battle coordination from afar."

"Who is this?" Padmé questioned, not certain she knew the name at all, but Shmi rested fingers on her hand gently.

"Another telepath, and one with much pain etched into his soul at some point," she said, reminding Micah again that her instinctive Force gifts were staggeringly potent at reading people.

Anakin frowned and tensed, the Force rippling with it, before his head turned back to his mother, taking an uncertain breath. "...he's always been... all right, with me. Even if he _doesn't_ like Ahsoka."

Micah snorted at that. "He doesn't understand her. And is incapable of understanding how her empathy works." He then moved toward the door. "I'll go get him, explain on the way, yes? That should give you all time to settle a bit."

"A wise plan, Master Giiett," Padmé said, shifting a little to ease her legs, but not moving from the position she had taken, wanting Anakin to see how much she was worried without being overly dominating at him.

"Thank you, Master," Anakin replied, before he tugged at Padmé gently, obviously wanting to hold her. 

Shmi moved a little, and Padmé joined them on the couch, tucking along Anakin's side, letting him hold her, giving him control of the situation. Shmi approved, as she often did in their small visits, of how careful Padmé was in downplaying her control of the situation, of how she gave Anakin as much freedom as possible in their relationship.

* * *

By the time Master Tiin was finished, with much soothing from Padmé and Shmi to keep Anakin calm enough to handle, the younger Omega in the room was out cold, his comm had gone off multiple times until Micah took it and spoke to both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan, and not a one of those present wasn't terrified for their point in history.

It was Shmi who stood first, going with determination back to her desk in the corner of Micah's chambers. She still lived in Plo's quarters, in his unused Padawan room, but she worked in here, and was often with the spy master, when he wasn't away from the Temple.

"Shmi?" Micah asked, but he suspected he knew her angle.

"Knowing for certain that the filth in that office is the Sith, I am more convinced that there is something strange in the files we gathered on his employer, Damask. I will find the evidence that my daughter-in-law needs to bring him down."

Padmé ducked her head down, still not used to having her bond with Anakin actually called what it was, a marriage, or being claimed by the strong survivor that was her mate's mother.

"A wise move, lady Shmi," Saesee Tiin said, inclining his head in her direction. "We must move cautiously, though. I did all I could to hide that I was breaking the ties to that man, so as long as Skywalker returns to his people, and remains away, we may still have the advantage."

"I will do what I can to allay suspicions, with a semblance of an apology in his direction," Padmé said coolly. "As I do not want him to know he is undone until I personally order the Guard to arrest him."

"Ahh, no." Micah shook his head. "While that arrest order will be needed, you will wish to relay it through my Sentinels instead. As I am certain that, when cornered, it will go to violence."

"True," she answered ruefully. "So, let's discuss strategy."


	8. In the End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything comes to a close....

Even as the meeting of Jedi and Senator was carrying on, down in the Healing Wing, there was a conference of another kind occurring.

Krieth Nimpur, Devaronian Jedi Healer Knight, had gone to the _Victorium_ at Master Koon's request, to do a physical on the first Omega pregnancy in the GAR. Only, anomalies on the scan had triggered a well-honed sense of paranoia in the Devaronian, who did not like to leave any part of the anatomy unmapped, using a whole-body approach to her techniques.

"Comet, you and your brothers Boost and Sinker, were asked here so I can use the full array of diagnostics to get a baseline. Every human variant has its own pitfalls and advantages," Krieth told them. "By having two Betas to compare to, Comet, I hope to get the full baseline in place for what to expect for healthy outcomes in the gestation that you and others of your Manifestation may have," she said.

It was not a lie. It was just not all of the truth.

"We'll do what we can, for our brothers to have that," Sinker assented, along with nods from the other pair.

"This is easier to do with unconsciousness," Krieth said, waving at the various medical equipment behind her.

"Do it," Boost said, steeling himself for the inevitable.

Once she had them all out, Krieth commed for the Master of the healers to join her, and they prepared for surgery of the most delicate kind, as Krieth had sent her scans ahead of her.

One way or another, Vokara and Krieth would discover the truth of that piece of hardware sitting inside the mens' skulls, and what threat it posed when no answers had been found in any of the technical readouts given to them by Kamino.

* * *

Saesee Tiin, Micah Giiett, and Yoda were the only three High Council Members in residence when Vokara Che demanded a meeting. The two masters that were already aware of the truth of the enemy had not slept in the two days since the revelation for more than an hour or two, but they complied with the request swiftly.

Anakin had been sent on to his unit, most unhappily as his Alpha was going to be in danger as far as he was concerned. Padmé had gone to practice her best Naboo politics, and Shmi was sleeping nearly as little as Micah in her search for evidence.

"Masters," Vokara said, before she connected her data pad to the projector. A list, long and detailed, appeared for all three to see, with various orders of lethal intent. "We have a Sith problem in our men, I believe, in the shape of these orders, encoded on a piece of hardware in their brains, that appear to be unavoidable, if instituted."

"What?" Micah was the first to demand, a cold fear for their latest and largest group of adopted children crawling along his spine, even as he started to read the information in front of him -- he couldn't help it, there was information there. 

Saesee, likewise, began reading and not liking what he was seeing. "Kenobi did say the Fett had named Tyranus as his employer for the task, but Master Ti had found nothing."

"Encountered many obfuscations, she did," Yoda said firmly. "Protect the men, we must. Asked for any of this, they did not."

"My thoughts exactly. I have a few of your Knights and a gifted Initiate, Micah, at work on cracking how to nullify the chips without the surgical option I performed on the three 104th members."

Micah nodded -- his Knights would be the best, for this, as often as slicing was a critical part of the Sentinels' and Shadows' work -- and continued reading the litany of orders. A few of them were not entirely terrible, but in the main... horrific. "When you said 'unavoidable', Vokara, what did you mean? They are people, after all, no matter how conditioned..." 

His heart ached for Comet and Boost and Sinker, and he wanted to go to them, to be sure that his young sons were all right. Yes, he was aware Vokara wouldn't have left them without being sure they were, but that was her opinion. He wanted to know, to feel, that they -- who he knew so well from Plo's mind -- were safe. 

"These chips are hard-wired into the brain in such a fashion as to bypass both logic and emotion, going straight to action. How long the synapse control would hold is not something I can test, or care to, but it would hold long enough for the immediate response, and whomever was at the other end of the blasters would be dead," she said bluntly, her lekku violently twitching. That was odd enough for her; she was typically so controlled in her non-verbal language. "A perceptive Jedi might notice the loss of personality I think it would cause, but that might only bring the Jedi closer to their men, to learn why.

"And, if you have not gotten that far, there is an order specifically designed to eliminate the Order en masse."

Saesee Tiin blanched, and Yoda's ears pinned back at that.

Micah lifted a fist and shoved his knuckles against his mouth, swallowing against bile. She was right, he knew. If something changed in their mens' minds, every Jedi he was anything like close to would immediately try to reach them, to help them. Plo certainly would. That the Sith would use their very care for the men to draw them to their deaths, combined with what had been done to Anakin... he so very badly wanted to be sick. 

"Dare I ask what faint legal grounding he possibly found for that? Or did he bother?" he finally asked. 

"He, Micah?" Vokara asked, even as she looked back at the readout. She reread the ones most causing her concern, glanced over some others, and that made the markings on her lekku stand out as the skin darkened with a rush of blood beneath the surface. "Obscenity," she whispered as it clicked.

"The wording, on that Order," Saesee said, to give the Twi'lek a chance to get herself back under control, "is that if the Supreme Commander of the GAR states the Jedi are guilty of treason, they are to be executed on sight.

"That means, Micah, the proceedings have to involve the Senate in full view of the Guard, to make it clear he is guilty before he can set that off. As there are contingencies against various politicians as well."

"Nullify this trap, we must," Yoda said, even as he realized just what the other two Council members were discussing. "Aware, already, you are?"

"A trap laid in Skywalker's mind was revealed to us," Saesee said. "We have been trying to keep the number small, that knows, so we may keep him blind to our movements."

"Hopefully it's working half as well as his ability to blind _us_ ," Micah growled the words, if quietly. ~And yes, Saesee, it certainly does.~ 

He felt a ripple in the Force and narrowed his eyes at their Grand Master, his jaw setting. "Don't, Master. It is **not** the boy's fault that his mind has been so repeatedly violated." 

Saesee turned his attention to Yoda as well. "I stand with Skywalker," he said in a soft, intent voice, making it clear that as the second eldest member of the current Council, he would not allow anything to harm the young Knight.

"Hmm." Yoda then looked at Vokara. "Continue to find a solution, your project is. Appreciate the warning, we do. Pass it out, discreetly, we shall."

"Micah's people are diligent; we will have a solution soon, I am confident." Vokara nodded to each of them and moved out of the Council chamber.

* * *

Word went out through the telepaths of the Jedi to those who were able to keep their demeanors controlled and not betray the secret that any Jedi noticing a significant, sudden change in their troopers were to evade at all costs.

They would not allow the men to harm the generals and commanders that had formed good rapports with them. The others… it was agreed that they were less likely at risk, as they kept apart from their men to begin with.

The day Shmi Skywalker cracked the coding surrounding how Palpatine had moved or hidden the money of Damask Holdings, and had several trails for Padmé's intelligence forces to follow, was a day that saw the Temple nearly shudder as the shadows blinding them broke open. This was the solid link they had needed to break the Sith conspiracy against them, and various Masters scrambled to get things in position for the final confrontation building.

All of that was a secondary concern to Wolffe, who had been fretting over his pack being gone from him until they returned, and Plo brought all of them into his personal cabin, with a med-scanner. His hunch played out; the damage from the torture Wolffe had endured and lost his eye to had demolished the chip.

That let Plo actually take Wolffe into his confidence fully, and kept the other three from having to hide what they knew.

That Wolffe tightened security around Plo subtly, by assigning Comet to his side at all non-duty times, was just his nature. He was not losing the Jedi he had come to love and respect as the head of his clan.

Despite the warnings of the Jedi, though, when the end came for the Sith, it was with a high cost in life. The Security Council, presented with an ironclad case of corruption, manipulation, and ties back to the enemy they were actually fighting, called for the arrest of the Chancellor. Fortunately, Micah's Sentinels had deployed a counter to the chip in time, but when the Home Guard was sent, without backup, to arrest the man, they were killed, to the last man of the six man squad.

That got the entire Home Guard, as well as Saesee Tiin's unit and Mace Windu's, who had returned to try and help with the Sith problem, out for blood and vengeance. Coruscant, already no fan of the clone army, was hostile territory to them, though.

The Jedi were called out for failing to protect them from the Sith manipulations, a complaint that was shut down by a cabal of Senators and Representatives loyal to their Jedi friends. Meanwhile, a taskforce of Mace Windu, Micah Giiett, and Tera Sinube, of all people, headed up a more cautious hunt for the Sith that had plunged the galaxy into war. Sinube's contacts in the under-levels were too needed to leave him out of it, even if he was the most vulnerable of the team.

And, of course, Dooku and Grievous chose to press their attack then, trying to open a way off Coruscant for the Sith Lord. That drew many Jedi fleets into battle, with Anakin's 501st leading the way.

That, more than anything else, and the solid connection between Anakin and his former master, as well as with his padawan, turned the battle for them all.

"Masters, you have to drive him off planet," Anakin said, with all seriousness, even as his bridge crew continued to fight against the Separatist fleet while the comm was handled.

"We cannot let him escape," Mace countered from the Temple War Room.

Obi-Wan, on his own bridge, stroked his beard. "Anakin, are you certain?" he asked, as he glimpsed the plan.

"I can use what he did to me to track him, with you and Ahsoka to reinforce me," Anakin said. "And he will be more at risk in a ship than on the ground."

Micah's face lit up as he realized just what Anakin meant. "Yes! Brilliant, young Skywalker! We will let him get to a ship, and do our best to give you all the telemetry to help limit how much you have to lean into that foulness."

"Thank you, Master," Anakin said before going to take command of the ship guns and coordinate his single-man fighters. They were only going to get one shot at this, but he meant to make it the final blow to the man that had betrayed them all.

* * *

Padmé Amidala looked over the Senate with no small satisfaction. Two weeks after the horrific Battle of Coruscant, and the signs were there for healing. There were a number of new faces, either because of deaths during Palpatine's escape attempt, the bombing from the Separatists after, or from arrests as ties to the corruption had been turned up.

The Jedi had lost several of their members, as had the units that had come to the battle to protect Coruscant. 

Palpatine was confirmed dead. Grievous was as well. Only Dooku had slipped free of their net, and the Separatist Council was falling apart from all their intelligence forces could gather. Slowly but surely, they would be able to move forward.

And she intended to tackle the thorns of slavery first, in gratitude and because it was the right thing to do, for the brave men that had made it all possible. She might be steering clear of the squabble over who would lead the Senate now, but she meant to keep her voice strong for them, and for the Jedi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for trying this one out.


End file.
